). Faced with the urgent need for creative and
technologically sophisticated responses to sustainability pressures, governments
globally are concerned that reported declines in STEM engagement will adversely
impact the growth and development of innovative science- and technology-based
industries relied upon to provide effective solutions to a wide range of environmental and
health-related problems. Further, in a highly competitive global economic context,
declining participation in these industries puts at risk a nation’s strategic competitive
capability and its capacity to sustain long-term socio-economic growth (Tytler et al.,
2008; Eurydice, 2012)