Issues 88, September 2009
SCIENCE CAREERS

Editorial

Issues Facing Scientific Research Employment in Australia
Daniel Edwards, Australian Council for Educational Research
Do higher research qualifications help or hinder job-seekers? A recent ACER research project sought Australian labour market expectations and impressions from employers and prospective employees.

Rebuilding the Mathematical Sciences
Hyam Rubinstein, National Committee for the Mathematical Sciences and Professor of Mathematics, University of Melbourne
In the face of declining graduate numbers, the mathematical science community is advocating ways to increase careers awareness and improve teaching supply.

Jobs 2009: Who Wants Physicists?
John Prescott, School of Chemistry and Physics, Adelaide University
For 25 years John Prescott kept an eye on employment prospects for physicists, and his annual surveys were published in the The Australian Physicist by the Australian Institute of Physics. Five years on, he returns to the surveys.

Working Towards Better Learning Experiences
Compiled by Nick Besley, College of Science, Engineering and Health, RMIT University
Work-integrated learning is revealing international opportunities for both students and prospective employers.

Ready to Work
Rachael Quigley, Marketing and Communication Unit, University of Technology, Sydney
A new online resource – the Work-Ready Wiki – is helping to prepare graduates for the workforce.

Promoting Science Careers Using the STELR Project
Peter Pentland, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
A STELR plan has been devised to arrest the decline in participation rates in upper secondary science and maths.

Lighting the SPARQ: Engaging School Students in Authentic Scientific Research
Dr Peter Darben, Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, University of Queensland
A university–government “research immersion” program is addressing the problem of student disengagement with science.

Virtual Career Paths Make Science Real
Will Rifkin and Phillipa Camilleri, Research Assistant, Faculty of Science, University of New South Wales
The World-Wide Day in Science reveals hundreds of career pathways in science courtesy of student reporters.

Women of WiT
Ann Uldridge, Women in Technology
Three women working in the biotech industry give insight and aspiration in interviews they gave during National Science Week 2009.

Helping Students Belong to a Uni Science Community
Mary Peat and Charlotte Taylor, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney
The University of Sydney science faculty is overturning a culture marked by difficult transitions from secondary school to university.

Beyond Belief: Developing Science Teacher Education
Rebecca Cooper and Stephen Keast, Centre for Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, Monash University
A teacher and teacher-educator set aside labels of “novice” and “expert” when they collaborated in some general science teaching.