Page 947 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 27 March 1990
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on in the Assembly this evening. Nonetheless, I will try to restore some semblance of order to that debate and raise some of the important issues that emerge from the report.
I do consider that the issues raised by members, at least on this side of the house, were significant and important, and that it is valuable for us to have had that debate. In a moment I will mention some of the important differences that have emerged between the arrangements for education in the Territory at this time under self-government, and those that existed in connection with the report that we have been discussing, and how different those two sets of arrangements are.
Ms Maher referred to issues concerning gender in education, particularly to issues such as the prevalence of boys in mathematics and science subjects, and the offsetting preponderance of girls in arts, cultural and non-scientific courses, which they traditionally favour in schools.
These are issues that are uppermost in my mind at the moment, Mr Speaker, because last night I had the good fortune to attend the annual dinner and annual general meeting of the Canberra Mathematics Association, where issues of that very kind have been long discussed and debated. I discussed with some members of that association issues that subsequently emerged. There is a conference coming up fairly soon called GASAT - that is, Gender and Science and Technology - which examines the issues of gender and the preferences displayed by particular genders in their attitudes towards science and technology in subject choices.
I think it is true to say that a whole range of issues emerge there that in reality have not been fully explored. I, for one, do not exclude the possibility that there may be some genetic indicators there. It may be that girls have preferences that are genetic, if you like, that cause them to make particular choices. But, at the same time, I am convinced that if there is a genetic factor there, it is certainly reinforced by societal attitudes.
We have to ask ourselves whether those sorts of attitudes ought not be modified and changed in order to account for the real expectations of members of a twentieth century society that women should be able to participate fully in the activities of society and that their choices should not be prejudiced by decisions made at school - indeed, before school.
As I said, these issues are yet to be fully understood and I think that the work being done by the Department of Education at the present time in addressing these issues and attempting to offset the societal influences that cause girls to choose particular subjects and boys to choose other subjects, is very valuable. I support that and hope that more understanding will flow from it.
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