Exploring STEM careers

Does a background in STEM mean becoming a scientist? Maybe an engineer or mathematician? We spoke to a couple of professionals to find out where STEM study has taken them.

Sandra Schwarz

At school, I was lucky to have had opportunities to experience a broad range of subjects, including STEM, humanities (comprising arts and languages) and sport. Of these, I found that I enjoyed and performed best in STEM subjects and was interested in the impact that computers, mobile phones and internet were quickly having on our lives. It seemed that technology was about to become the key driver in economic development.

I studied science in my undergraduate degree, where I applied technology to test scientific hypotheses, and relied on my background in mathematics to interpret and analyse data from laboratory experiments. After completing my honours year, I decided to pursue a double masters degree in international business and commerce.

I currently work in operations strategy for a large telecommunications provider, and have previously worked as a management consultant and contractor in information technology. My background in STEM has provided aspects that I could leverage to move into technical roles, like data analysis or hypothesis-driven methodology.

Alexander Paterson

I always knew that I wanted to be involved in property and construction, which meant that I would need STEM — not only for tertiary study but throughout my career. This meant that I studied a bit of everything: English, Australian History, Art, German, Physics and Mathematical Methods.

My degree was a Bachelor of Design (Architecture) combined with a Bachelor of Construction Management, with the curriculum covering subjects such as building materials science, computer-aided modelling, construction and structures, and measurement and estimating. Architecture and construction aren’t strictly STEM, but they certainly require the aptitude.

I now work as a project manager and use STEM-related skills every day, particularly those relating to mathematics and engineering. These skills assist me in managing budgets and business cases, developing and assessing trade costs, as well as having the ability to communicate with engineers and understand the nature of design and issues encountered through our projects.