{"id":43024,"date":"2023-10-20T15:25:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/new-research-confirms-what-startups-have-long-been-agitating-for-australia-needs-more-stem-graduates-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:25:32","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:25:32","slug":"new-research-confirms-what-startups-have-long-been-agitating-for-australia-needs-more-stem-graduates-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/new-research-confirms-what-startups-have-long-been-agitating-for-australia-needs-more-stem-graduates-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"New research confirms what startups have long been agitating for: Australia needs more STEM graduates – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
There is a shortage of graduates with science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, according to the Australian government \u2013 confirming what local startups have long been saying.<\/p>\n
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According to the Office of the Chief Scientist, businesses are finding it difficult to fill roles that require STEM skills and only expect demand for these positions to increase over time.<\/p>\n
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Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Wilcox said in a statement the research highlighted the growing importance of STEM skills in creating \u201ca more productive\u201d workforce.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe occasional paper makes it very clear that STEM skills contribute to productivity growth and workplace innovation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThese skills help us to operate more effectively and to remain globally competitive in the knowledge-based economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Governments have turned their attention to addressing the STEM skills shortage with vigour recently, particular since startups are beginning to catch the attention of politicians at both the state and federal level.<\/p>\n
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NSW\u2019s new Minister for Innovation, Victor Dominello, has said addressing the lack of software engineers in Australia is one of his top priorities.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI will be speaking to the minister for education about that as it was definitely something I heard while visiting Fishburners,\u201d he told StartupSmart<\/i> earlier this week.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt came as a bit of a surprise to me \u2013 I would have thought there would have been a lot of young students wanting to be the next Bill Gates and wanting to change the world in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Not to be outdone, Labor has also jumped on the innovation bandwagon. Speaking at Blue Chilli\u2019s Sydney headquarters last week, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said his party will pay \u201cgreater than ever\u201d attention to sciences and maths education \u2013 however the specific policy measures remain unclear.<\/p>\n
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In the meantime, startups and grassroots initiatives are determined to plough ahead and create the coders and engineers of tomorrow \u2013 with or without government support.<\/p>\n
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