“Trying to do the right thing”: Husic backs decision to pause new STEM grants as diversity review takes place

Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic has backed the federal government’s broad-reaching Diversity in STEM Review and its consultative process, following industry pushback to the decision to pause new grant funding as the review takes place.

The review, announced in September last year, will assess the cultural and structural barriers which limit the participation of women, girls, and other historically underrepresented groups in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.

Women make up just 27% of the workforce across STEM-related industries, government figures show.

An expert panel will also investigate the “delivery and impact of the existing suite of women in STEM programs,” according to the review’s terms of reference.

Some $100 million in funding for existing grant programs continues to roll out, but no new funding will be announced before the review tables its final report in the final quarter of 2023.

The decision to pause further financial commitments as the review takes place is a “further setback for girls already participating in STEM,” said Sarah Moran, founder of Girl Geek Academy, a social enterprise offering coding lessons and tech training to women and girls.

Moran, whose organisation has previously benefited from government grants and tenders, this month said further government reviews are not required.

“The government needs to put its money where its mouth is,” she said. “We need action, not just another review or consultation.”

Speaking to SmartCompany, Husic said funding arrangements remain the same as before the review was announced, and that announcing any new grants before the final report would be “putting the cart before the horse.”

“No funding has been cut,” Husic said.

“The grant programs operate and continue to operate, and they’ll work on their own timelines.

“I’m not in a position to give individual grant decisions as they lob up to me for individual firms and organisations.

“It’s not right for me to do that if we’ve got a dedicated grant process in place.

“So we’re encouraging people to continue to apply, continue to work through, be confident the funding is there.”

“I know I will upset some people” with the decision not to roll out extra funding during the review, Husic added.

“But I want people to know that we’re doing this quite differently to the administrations before.

“And we’re trying to do the right thing more broadly for the community.”

Review takes broad look at diversity barriers

Given the comparatively low representation of women in Australia’s tech sector, there is a pressing need to ensure government grant funding actually budges the needle, Husic said.

“Our job as a government is to make people feel they all have a place to contribute, because we’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said.

“The programs that we have run — some that work well, some maybe not so well — I want to get to the bottom of that.

“I want to understand why we don’t have women in STEM given the investment.”

The review will also consider broader issues of representation in the tech sector, Husic added, referencing the barriers to participation facing people from First Nations backgrounds, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, those living with a disability, and members of the LGBTI community.

“Tearing all that down is really important because I want people to have a sense they can make a contribution.”

Industry players welcome review

The review process has been welcomed by others in the tech sector, including Mikaela Jade, a Cabrogal woman and founder of Indigital, an Indigenous-designed edtech provider.

“It is timely, and I know that stopping and reviewing to reinvest in what works, and letting go of what doesn’t is a smart decision for our nation,” Jade wrote when the review was announced last year.

Jade — whose firm previously missed out on the government’s Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship grants — was later confirmed as a member of the review’s expert panel.

Industry representative group Science & Technology Australia also praised the review upon its announcement.

“To create the ‘future powered by science’ envisaged by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, we need to be able to draw on Australia’s full talent pool,” CEO Misha Schubert said in September.

“Clear action to eliminate barriers to participation for women and under-represented groups are key to that goal.”