Brisbane Times · 3 July 2026
The curriculum quirk pushing Queensland girls out of tech careers
By Catherine Strohfeldt, featuring research from the University of the Sunshine Coast and comment from Sarah Moran.
Policy & Impact
Tech is compulsory. But some schools are neglecting it. Is yours?
Under the Australian Curriculum, every student studies Digital Technologies and Design and Technologies until the end of Year 8. It isn’t optional. But in many Queensland schools it’s timetabled as an elective, so a student can finish Year 8 without ever studying it.
The push-out is in the timetable
It isn’t one decision. It’s three layers, and tech gets thinner at each one.
The national curriculum
The Australian Curriculum is written on the basis that every student studies both Technologies subjects, Digital Technologies and Design and Technologies, from Foundation to the end of Year 8. Science and Maths run to Year 10.
Queensland’s framework
Queensland classes Technologies as a “flexible” learning area, not a core one. It gets 140 hours across Years 7 and 8 combined, shared between both subjects. Maths gets 140 hours every year. The recommended minimum is one semester of each subject across the two years.
The school timetable
That leaves the call to schools, and many make tech an elective. It can end up in the same choice block as art, music, home economics or dance, and some schools only run it if enough students pick it.
This research is about Queensland. Other states set their own rules for delivering the Australian Curriculum, and we haven’t checked them yet.
What the research found
Researchers at the University of the Sunshine Coast read the Year 7 and 8 handbooks of 22 Queensland schools.
22 of 22
schools made Science and Maths compulsory in Years 7 and 8
8 of 22
made Digital Technologies compulsory in both years
45%
offered Digital Technologies only as an elective, so a student could skip it entirely
7 of 22
made Design and Technologies compulsory in both years
- Seven handbooks said electives depend on staffing, resources or student numbers.
- Government schools were less likely than Catholic or Independent schools to require Digital Technologies, and the rural and remote government schools in the study offered it only as an elective.
- Engineering principles and systems appeared in only 10 of the 22 handbooks.
Handbooks show what schools say they offer, not what every student ends up studying, and 22 schools is a small sample. Source: McMaster et al., 2026.
Why it matters for girls
Years 7 and 8 are when interest in STEM often drops, especially for girls, regional students and students from low-income families.
When tech is an elective, 12-year-olds with little experience of it decide whether to take it. Students who don’t already see themselves in tech may never pick it.
And when tech sits in the same choice block as art, music or dance, one of the researchers, Dr Natalie McMaster, told Brisbane Times it becomes “an accidental pitting against each other of subjects that perhaps female students are more likely to want to pick.”
“The lack of consistency means that they’re not exposed to it enough to want to get good at it.”
Check your school in two minutes
- Find the Year 7 and 8 handbook. Most schools post a subject handbook or curriculum guide on their website, usually under Curriculum or Subject selection.
- Look for Digital Technologies and Design and Technologies. Schools sometimes use other names, like Digital Tech, ICT, Design Technology, Engineering or Food Technology.
- Check the words next to them. “Compulsory” or “core” for every student in both Year 7 and Year 8 is what the Australian Curriculum requires. Watch for “elective”, “choice”, “rotation” or “subject to numbers”.
- If it’s unclear, ask the school.
- Will every Year 7 and 8 student study both Digital Technologies and Design and Technologies, in both years?
- Do these subjects run even if only a few students choose them?
- What will my child learn that goes beyond what they did in primary school?
- Share what you find. If your school gets it right, nominate it. If it doesn’t, ask why, and share this page with your P&C.
What needs to change
No single program can fix a timetable. Here’s who can.
Queensland Department of Education
Make Technologies a core learning area in Years 7 and 8, like Maths and Science, with time set aside every year for both subjects.
Schools
Timetable Digital Technologies and Design and Technologies as compulsory in both Year 7 and Year 8. Keep them out of elective blocks that compete with the arts, and run them however many students there are.
Teacher education
Put STEM and digital technologies into teacher training and accreditation. In a 2023 review, neither the national nor the Queensland accreditation requirements mentioned STEM, and only 2 of Queensland’s 8 universities assessed it in their primary teaching degrees.
Federal government
The National STEM School Education Strategy 2016–2026 ends this year. Its replacement should make access to Technologies in Years 7 and 8 something that is measured and reported.
Parents and P&Cs
Check your school’s handbook, ask the questions below, and share what you find with your P&C.
Girl Geek Academy
We can help plug the gap, but a holiday program can’t replace two years of timetabled classes. We run programs for girls who aren’t getting tech at school, like SheHacksSwift and MissMakesCode. We also keep this list and keep pushing for the policy fix.
Schools getting it right
We’re building a list of schools where every student studies both Digital Technologies and Design and Technologies in both Year 7 and Year 8. We only list a school after we’ve checked its published handbook.
No schools listed yet. Know one that gets it right? Be the first to nominate it.
The button opens an email with the questions we need answered. We check the school’s handbook, then add it with a link and the date we checked. Schools can email us to update their listing.
In the media
Sources
- McMaster, N., Steindl, E., Marshman, M., Siostrom, E., Scott, J. J., & Coffie, I. S. (2026). Curriculum promises, classroom realities: Unpacking junior secondary STEM subjects and pathways. Research in Integrated STEM Education, 4, 1–30. doi.org/10.1163/27726673-bja00040
- Marshman, M., McMaster, N., Scott, J. J., Siostrom, E., & Strachan, A. (2025). Examining STEM education policy: Gaps between rhetoric and reality in schools and initial teacher education. Research in Integrated STEM Education, 3(1), 24–48. doi.org/10.1163/27726673-bja00028
- Strohfeldt, C. (2026, 3 July). The curriculum quirk pushing Queensland girls out of tech careers. Brisbane Times.