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As my initial university degree was a BSc with First Class Honours in mathematics, it is not surprising that I believe the discipline of mathematics matters. I would even go so far as to say that it is a crucial foundation for almost all careers in science, engineering and technology. A couple of fairly influential people have similar views:

'Every advanced industrial country knows that falling behind in science and mathematics means falling behind in commerce and prosperity.'
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, Budget speech, March 2006.

'In this ever more competitive global economy, Australia’s science, engineering and technology skills need to match the best in the world.'
Prime Minister John Howard, speech in Sydney, September 2006.

These quotes are on the back cover of Mathematics and Statistics: Critical Skills for Australia’s Future, the National Strategic Review of Mathematical Sciences Research in Australia. It was commissioned by the Australian Academy of Science and launched in December 2006. I was a member of the Advisory Council for that review because I was then President of the Statistical Society of Australia Inc, which had commissioned the December 2005 Review of Statistics at Australian Universities.

Unfortunately, young people today do not share the view that mathematics is important. In an analysis of participation in Year 12 mathematics across Australia from 1995 to 2004, Frank Barrington found that although the overall proportion of mathematics enrolments had been maintained, there had been a net loss of students taking intermediate and advanced options in which higher-level skills were taught. He inferred that “this impacts on the ability of students to undertake tertiary studies in the quantitative sciences, and for the national capacity for innovation in engineering and technology”.

What has contributed to this net decline in take-up?

Secondary school students are increasingly told to take subjects in their senior years that they like or are likely to do well in. This trend is sustained by a belief that, under those circumstances, students will score well in the Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (or other tertiary entrance scores) and hence be afforded the opportunity to undertake tertiary studies.

Universities have probably contributed to this viewpoint by discarding advanced or even intermediate mathematics as prerequisites for entry into certain programs. Students can study intermediate and/or advanced mathematics at university (if they have not passed these subjects at Year 12 level) and, on successful completion, receive credit for them as electives within a particular program.

This process is viewed by some academics as ‘dumbing down’ science, engineering and technology programs, as it means that more advanced disciplinary courses are displaced. Others see it as an educational advantage by enabling students to make decisions at a later stage in their development, rather than during their mid-teens. It fits quite comfortably with the concept of one’s first university degree being somewhat general, but followed by a two-year focused masters program (such as in the University of Melbourne’s new model).

In any case, the declining take-up of intermediate and advanced mathematics at senior secondary school level seems to be an inevitable outcome of current subject selection practices in secondary and tertiary education. To one who regards mathematics as a central pillar of scientific endeavour, this outcome is concerning. My apprehension is shared by many in business, industry and government. Two key recommendations from the mathematical sciences review address the challenge of reversing this decline:

• ensure that all mathematics teachers in Australian schools have appropriate training in the disciplines of mathematics and statistics to the highest international standards; and
• encourage greater numbers of high school students to study intermediate and advanced mathematics.

Perhaps the best way to achieve the second outcome would be to promote the vast and increasing range of rewarding careers available to those who obtain some training in mathematics and statistics. Their pervasiveness is not well understood by the community – just about every area of employment depends at some point on handling and interpreting data, and on predicting and modelling outcomes. Jobs requiring analytical skills are advertised in areas ranging from finance and commerce to the natural sciences and engineering. More specifically, undertaking mathematics in the senior school years opens up science, engineering and technology as possible career paths.

The other key recommendations from the mathematical sciences review were:

• significantly increase the number of university graduates with appropriate mathematical and statistical training;
• broaden the mathematical sciences research base; and
• identify, anticipate and meet industry needs for a pool of tertiary-trained expert mathematicians and statisticians.

If all five recommendations were accepted and enacted, we would be able to build a critical mass of research, education, industry and government interaction, and ensure we maintained our technical and problem-solving capability, particularly in science, engineering and technology. We could also improve the percentage of university graduates with a mathematics or statistics major from the current 0.5 per cent a year to at least the OECD average of 1 percent.

I believe these reviews have contributed to a major change in the way mathematics and statistics are viewed by those in the Federal Government. The last Budget greatly improved the state of mathematical sciences in Australia. The disciplinary areas of mathematics and statistics are now in a higher funding band shared with computer science, with an increase of about 50 per cent in financial support per student. This is an excellent outcome that will have a big effect on relevant academics, with resulting benefits for their students.

Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a corresponding change in the way state governments view tertiary education in comparison with vocational education and training (VET), where skilled-labour shortages have been evident for some years.

In Queensland, for instance, where the government has supported higher education through its Smart State Strategy, a recent discussion paper, entitled ‘Towards a 10-year plan for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and skills in Queensland’, identified some areas of concern in professional/tertiary STEM training. However, the Queensland Government does not seem to be as proactive in addressing these issues as it is for those in the VET sector, where it is clearly very active.

Even though university education is primarily a Federal Government concern, state governments must also commit resources to encourage secondary school students to consider STEM training at tertiary level. This should happen now. Employers have already stated that they have not been able to source graduates within Australia in the enabling mathematical sciences1, as illustrated by the following:

'Over the past few years it has been difficult for us to recruit top-class graduates in specific areas of the mathematical sciences from Australian universities. We have sought to recruit operations research and optimisation specialists from the US and Europe because of the difficulty of recruiting [them] … within Australia.'
– BHP Billiton questionnaire submitted to the National Strategic Review of Mathematical Sciences Research in Australia, 2006.

I will close on a positive note. Any mathematical training is going to be useful, whether that be for everyday life or for career choices. Intermediate and advanced mathematical skills are essential if you want any sort of career in science, engineering or technology.

These analytical skills can be obtained at secondary school or university, but the earlier they are learnt the more advantaged the logical reasoning and problem-solving skills will be in other disciplinary areas.

Mathematics does matter!

Kaye Basford FTSE is Head of the University of Queensland’s School of Land, Crop and Food Sciences, a multi-disciplinary cross-campus school focused on agricultural, environmental and food sciences. She is immediate Past President of the Statistical Society of Australia Inc. As Professor of Biometry, her teaching and research is at the forefront of statistics and quantitative genetics through the development and dissemination of appropriate methodology for the analysis and interpretation of genotypic adaptation in large-scale plant breeding trials. Her awards include the 1998 Medal of Agriculture from the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology and a 1986 Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to Cornell University.