Are you thriving in your STEM career - or not? If you've ever thought about leaving the sector, why was that - and what made you stay? Has your career in STEM been planned - or largely improvised? We need to hear from you for a pivotal major survey on STEM Career Pathways.
The STEM Career Pathways survey will be Australia's most comprehensive snapshot of current conditions and career patterns for scientists, technologists, mathematicians and engineers.
We also need to hear from people who have left STEM careers - to know more about why you left.
The study will gather crucial information on workloads, conditions, career development and opportunities for people to move between industry and research across Australia's STEM sector.
The survey is being run by Science & Technology Australia to gather updated evidence on STEM career pathways and movement across the sector. It will inform research commissioned by the Office of the Chief Scientist for the Prime Minister's National Science and Technology Council.
"The STEM Career Pathways survey will be an Australian first: taking the pulse of the whole STEM sector to gather fresh evidence on STEM career patterns and pathways," said Science & Technology Australia CEO Misha Schubert.
"We need everyone working in STEM careers – and those who have left them – to fill out this survey to ensure Australia can recruit, retain and nurture the STEM talent we know our economy will desperately need in the years ahead."
The survey takes around 10 minutes to complete. It is open to anyone with a STEM qualification and you can respond anonymously. All survey participants can enter the draw to win one of two $500 JB HiFi vouchers. The entry form is at the end of the survey.
"This evidence will help ensure Australia can source and safeguard the brilliant scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians we'll need to build the key future industries that will shape our destiny," Ms Schubert said.
"By taking 10 minutes to do this survey, people in the STEM sector will contribute valuable evidence to inform how policy settings shape STEM careers. It's an important way the STEM sector itself can contribute to better working conditions and career security."
The survey is open now and closes on 14 June 2023.
