Australian school data looks at enrolments for year 12 students by gender and field of education.
This includes STEM fields of education, which are:
You can use this interactive data to compare year 12 school subject enrolment numbers for girls and boys in STEM fields, non-STEM fields and health fields.
Source: Department of Education, 2025; Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001; Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2016 (unpublished)
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The number of enrolments in year 12 STEM subjects increased from 2022 to 2023 for both girls (up 3,200 enrolments or 1.9%) and boys (up 4,500 enrolments or 2.4%). Enrolments also increased for non-STEM subjects, by 6.9% (20,700 enrolments) for girls and 10.2% (24,400 enrolments) for boys.
The proportion of STEM subject enrolments by girls was 47% in 2023. This proportion has slightly increased over time. From 2013 to 2018, it increased from 45% to 47% and has remained steady since. In contrast, the proportion of non-STEM enrolments by girls slightly decreased from 57% to 55% over this time.
There have been very slight increases in the proportion of enrolments by girls in some STEM subjects since 2013. The fields where the proportion of enrolment by girls decreased slightly compared to 2013 were engineering and related technologies, physics and astronomy, and other natural and physical sciences.
In 2023, girls made up the majority of student enrolments in:
Girls remained underrepresented in:
Enrolments in year 12 STEM subjects represented 36% of total year 12 enrolments in 2023 (363,800 STEM subject enrolments out of 1,010,200 total subject enrolments). This was similar to 2022, where STEM subject enrolments were 37% of total year 12 enrolments (356,200 STEM subject enrolments out of 954,700 total subject enrolments).
You can use this interactive data to compare year 12 enrolment numbers for girls and boys in mathematics subjects by level of mathematics subject.
Source: Department of Education, 2025; Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001; Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2016 (unpublished)
Year 12 enrolment data for mathematics subjects was analysed in more detail.
The Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) identified 4 levels of mathematics subjects. From lowest to highest, they are:
ATAR is the main criterion for Australian student entry into university. An ATAR subject is eligible to contribute to the calculation of a student’s ATAR.
Elementary mathematics focuses on mathematical skills needed for everyday life, like finance and trigonometry, and map and graph reading. Intermediate and higher mathematics focuses on the use of calculus and statistics. Intermediate and higher mathematics prepare students best to enter university degrees, especially STEM and commerce degrees.
The total number of enrolments in mathematics subjects at all levels has decreased for both girls and boys compared to 2013. Despite this, the proportion of year 12 mathematics enrolments relative to total year 12 enrolments has remained the same, at 18% in both 2013 and 2023.
Higher mathematics has the lowest proportion of enrolments from girls out of all levels. Since 2013, this proportion has remained between 36% and 38%. In 2023, 36% of enrolments in higher mathematics subjects were from girls. For other levels in 2023:
The proportion of enrolments from girls remained similar for most levels of mathematics subjects since 2013, staying within a range of only 2 percentage points. The exception was elementary (generally non-ATAR) which ranged between 42% and 51% of enrolments from girls.
The Australian Government’s Department of Education supplied this year 12 subject enrolment data. The Department of Education put together enrolment information from data supplied by state and territory curriculum, assessment and certification authorities.
Education departments were requested to supply enrolments in tertiary accredited subjects only. VET (vocational education and training) subjects in schools were included. Mathematics courses included in the elementary (generally non-ATAR) category are tertiary accredited but correspond more closely to Essential Mathematics in the Australian Curriculum.
Data is a count of enrolments only. This means a student enrolled in multiple subjects in the same field will be counted for each enrolment. For example, the same student enrolled in an accounting subject and a business management subject will count as two enrolments for the management and commerce field.
The Department of Education data included subject name and key learning area (KLA), both of which were supplied by state and territory education departments. To ensure consistency across states/territories and years, we classified all subjects according to the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED).
To make determinations we used the supplied subject name and KLA. We also used the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) School Subject Coder and state and territory curriculum websites to determine subjects where required.
Years refer to the calendar year of enrolment.
Enrolment data is subject to revision to improve quality over time. There may be slight differences if compared to previous editions of the STEM Equity Monitor.
Mathematics data is shown by level for subjects in the mathematical sciences field. Information on mathematics subject levels was provided by AMSI.
View AMSI resources.
Read more about our methodology and this data.
