As the artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing industries explode, trained STEM professionals are in high demand. Mathematics is foundational to these fields.

But mathematics is missing an important ingredient: people who are female or gender-diverse.

In New South Wales, for example, only one-third of high school graduates who complete mathematics at the highest level are female or gender-diverse. And when students choose university courses in December, a large proportion of these highly qualified people will step away from mathematics and STEM.

Australia cannot stay competitive by only accessing half of its young talent. By leaving mathematics early, young women and gender-diverse people limit their own career opportunities. Worse, the new technologies resulting from the current revolutions may not serve broader society well, if women and gender-diverse people are not involved in their development.

But at the University of Sydney over the past five years we have run a successful pilot program to reverse this trend – and to empower young women to make informed career choices. Better, the program is cheap to run and can be easily adopted elsewhere so mathematics – and the........

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