For all the concern about young women turning away from science and technology, a snapshot of gender equity in NSW has revealed an unexpected bright spot.
More women than men completed postgraduate degrees in fields relating to science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in 2014 - 32.9 per cent compared with 30.7 per cent, according to the Women in NSW Education report.
But there is otherwise not a great deal of progress to celebrate in the report, released on Tuesday by Minister for Women Pru Goward.
"If we want to achieve gender equity and a more diverse workforce, we need to continue encouraging girls to study STEM subjects and work in industries reliant on those skills," Ms Goward said.
"Careers reliant on the study of STEM subjects can earn women up to double the salaries of vocations women have traditionally pursued."
The report shows that while women are outstripping men in post-graduate STEM research, more men (44.5 per cent) than women (36.5 per cent) took undergraduate STEM degrees.
And while girls outperform boys in NAPLAN literacy tests, the reverse is true of NAPLAN numeracy tests. But the gender gap in the numeracy scores has decreased since 2013 and is now "marginal".
The report shows that the gender pay gap in graduate salaries has slimmed from 2012 (where it was $5000) but male graduates are still earning on average $3000 more than female graduates.
More women than men are completing high school and tertiary education overall in NSW. But women in trades are at a 10-year low.
PhD students in the University of Sydney's organic chemistry lab were, for the most part, unsurprised that more women than men were completing postgraduate STEM degrees. Chemistry, in particular, did fairly well for equal representation of women and men, they said.
A common thread among five female PhD students was having a parent or a science teacher who encouraged them into the field.
Nabiha Elias, 25, in her final year of a PhD researching the development of new drugs including anti-malarials, said: "I had a very supportive family, who encouraged me to go to do whatever I want, however I do realise that a lot of other girls with my cultural background at least are discouraged from following these sort of careers.
"There was quite a gender difference in high school because it was perceived it's not cool for girls to study chemistry and physics, those sort of subjects, compared to the male students."
Ms Elias' observation is borne out in the statistics, with the gender gap in STEM course enrolments at high school level increasing from 8.4 per cent in year 10 to 13.7 per cent in year 12 in favour of boys on the latest numbers.
Emma Watson, 23, whose PhD is researching blood-clotting proteins derived from insects and their possible therapeutic application, for example in strokes, said diversity in STEM was important for lots of reasons.
"Psychology keeps telling us that the male and female brain on the whole work quite differently, and that men and women approach problems differently and have different focuses when trying to address an issue.
"So having the broadest cross-section of people working in an area breeds the broadest creative solutions. Having more women there allows a different perspective to come forward, but also potentially gives women already here more confidence to speak up and share their views, if they're not the only girl in the room."
The state government said it is acting to reverse the decline in STEM subject enrolments, with initiatives including a $20 million science lab upgrade in public schools, and training specialist science and maths primary teachers in NSW.
