Careers with STEM

Through CareerswithSTEM.com website and magazine, discover STEM + X, where ‘X’ is your students’ interest. Whatever a student's goals, there’s a STEM + X to match.

Heather Catchpole and Karen Taylor-Brown are co-founders of Refraction Media, a media company specialising in STEM. Refraction Media provides students and teachers with the popular magazine, Careers with STEM.

Watch 'Careers with STEM' (04:49)

Heather Catchpole and Karen Taylor-Brown

(Duration: 4 minutes 49 seconds)

[Music]

[Red and blue logo revealed reading ‘STEM 2022 on demand’. 

Heather Catchpole and Karen Taylor-Brown appear on screen.] 

Heather Catchpole:

Welcome. I'm Heather Catchpole.

Karen Taylor-Brown:

And I'm Karen Taylor-Brown.

Heather Catchpole:

And we're the co founders of careers with STEM.

[Screen shows a webpage titled, ‘Careers with STEM’. The menu bar includes topics such as, why STEM? Study paths, grad outcomes, role models, mags, teachers, comps and events. A red button below the menu reads, ‘trending now’ with a link to, ‘design a whole new world: creative skills in STEM’. The page contains a grid with various images of students and people engaging with technology. These images contain topics such as, quizzes, internships, university experiences and competitions. There is also an image of the Careers with STEM magazine under the heading ‘most popular’.]

Karen Taylor-Brown:

Careers with STEM is a platform for students, teachers and parents. Here you can explore Careers with science, technology, engineering and maths or STEM.

[The screen shows different issues of the Careers with STEM magazine being placed on top of each other. This image fades and the screen shows a blue screen with ‘STEM’ across the top, and the words, ‘science’, ‘technology’, ‘engineering’ and ‘maths’ underneath, along with 3 cartoon figures at the bottom of the page. The screen cuts to a shot of a person from behind, using a computer to look through the Careers with STEM website.]

Careers with STEM is an independent careers house created by STEM specialist publishers refraction media.

[Screen shows a webpage titled ‘Refraction Media’ with a photograph of a group of people inside an office space.]

It's hugely popular and supported by employers, government, universities and other organizations who share our vision to inspire a smarter future.

[Screen shows the following logos: Australian Government, ANSTO: Science, Ingenuity, Sustainability, QUT: the university for the real world, Macquarie University, Google, Atlassian, Commonwealth Bank.]

Careers with STEM reaches 1 million high school students annually and aims to inspire them to pursue courses and careers with STEM.

[Screen shows 4 young people walking and a young person touching a motorised propellor.]

We do this by busting stereotypes, showcasing diversity, and revealing exciting and unexpected career paths.

[Screen shows an issue of the Careers with STEM magazine featuring a story, titled, ‘Doctor? No, I’m an engineer?’ An issue titled, ‘Indigenous’ and one titled, ‘Space’.

And now we're going to take a look at why we think STEM is the future.

Heather Catchpole:

[Screen shows a close up of a bee on a flower, followed by the word ‘STEM’ being drawn in a pile of blue rice.]

There's a big buzz around getting skills in STEM. Research tells us that these skills are critical to future jobs. But we'd like to think of STEM as a foundation, not necessarily a destination. We know there's more to stem than working in science, technology, engineering, or math.

[Screen shows a series of shots containing people in various STEM related worksites.]

STEM skills provide a solid foundation, but not just the jobs in science and engineering. These skills are critical in every walk of life. In fact, by 2030, it's predicted Australian workers will spend 77% more time using science and math skills. It's also surprising where a stem foundation can lead and forget the stereotype like a scientist in the lab or a mad mathematician. People with STEM skills work for well-known brands in digital retail as data experts for multinational companies. They're solving global problems like climate change, or they might be preparing to be the next tech entrepreneur. They might get the tools in a trade building the smart homes of future or be the future of smart mining. STEM can also lead to creative career in games or animation. STEM skilled people can also work outdoors looking after our environment without an office in sight.

[Screen shows a series of shots containing people working in creative workplaces, design and gaming, along with outside in nature.]

Before we explore these careers, we want to share careers with stems secret formula, we call it stem plus x, where x is your passion an interest, another subject, a big opportunity, or a life changing goal. Think tech plus agriculture equals smarter farming, or science plus business equals new space rockets. Engineering Plus health equals new medicines, or maths plus shopping equals happier customers and less retail waste. Whatever you're into, there's a STEM at plus x solution that can get you there.

[Screen shows a series of shots containing images of farming, rockets and a person holding many shopping bags.]

Karen Taylor-Brown:

If you found any of these exciting careers interesting, and you're looking for a place to start, here are five ways to start your path into STEM. Number one, head to careers with stem.com.

[Screen shows the Careers with STEM website. Close ups of different areas of the site are then shown to highlight what the speaker is saying.]

Take a quiz to find out what your stem plus x is. Once you have an idea of what you're interested in, use the menu dropdowns to explore career areas and role models by stem or by x area. To find out more. You can also search through our back issues and job kids for more info.

Heather Catchpole:

Number two, look out for mentoring opportunities through your school tafe or uni family connections, friends and Professional Programs.

Karen Taylor-Brown:

[Screen shows the Careers with STEM YouTube channel, their website showing study pathways, Netflix, headshots of people in STEM: Clare Birch – Quantam chemistry student, Aleisha Amohia – Software developer, Raina Jain – High school student, Charishma Kaliyandra – Liverpool councillor, Naomi Manu – Director of Pühora STEM Academy, Jarom Hauwai-Sauer – Self-taught coder, Lesley Woodhouse – Digital knowledge keeper and Liam Ridgeway – Co-founder and director of NGNY, Indigitek and IndigiGig. Screen then shows the Careers with STEM newsletter sign-up page, and ANSTO website.]

Number three, keep informed. Try out courses watch relevant shows, connect with or follow people who have great stem stories to share.

Subscribe to the careers for STEM e newsletter to stay up to date with career trends, employment growth areas, and helpful career insights.

Heather Catchpole:

Number four, if you're at school, choose electives, such as engineering, STEM, digital technology, and design and technology. And see if the school has a coding club. Stick with maths and include science and maths in your year 11 and 12 subjects.

Karen Taylor-Brown:

And number five, when looking at your next level study options don’t forget there are plenty of study pathways to choose from, and it doesn't need to be a straight STEM degree. You can combine it with data science, gaming and design, communications and media, security, law and much more.

[Screen shows a series of shots that depict the illustrate the careers mentioned by the speaker.]

Heather Catchpole:

Need to Know More look out for the careers with STEM magazines in your school. They're sent to every Australian Secondary School four times per year. Each magazine focuses on a STEM foundation and combines it with exciting X areas. Careers with stem.com is a STEM careers go to with news opportunities and real life reads. You can search for your favourite stem foundation or your X. Now's the time to join 1 million students discovering stem plus x.

Karen Taylor-Brown:

With Careers with STEM you can find your path to a smarter future.

[Video concludes by displaying the NSW Government logo.] 

[End of Transcript] 

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