Date: 10 March 2026 Australian girls continue to be under‑represented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, with gender stereotypes influencing aspirations and perceptions of future potential from an early age. Animator Amelia Farrell’s concept sketches showing the design process for representing microbiologist Dr Yan Liao as an ‘Archaea’. Image supplied. Professor Rachel Landers and her research team are aiming to change this through the power of creative storytelling. With support from the Australian Research Council, the team is developing educational science content for school children aged between 10 and 12. A key focus of the project is reflecting diversity in science, especially when it comes to women in STEM. This means being representative without being tokenistic. Professor Landers says oftentimes, content that features diverse scientists can actually reinforce biases, ‘A lot of content featuring female scientists will just take all the women and do a series. It’s not normalising.' Students explore science hands‑on with a facilitator during the Superheroes of Science outreach event at Vivid Sydney. Image supplied. The content is grounded in practical application and will be designed for use in primary schools, by primary school teachers who, says Professor Landers, are not always confident teaching STEM subjects. ‘That’s possibly because the last time they may have done science themselves was in Year 10,’ she says. Building student capability in STEM subjects is a government priority, but Professor Landers notes, ‘unless you’re comfortable with it and you are having fun with it, and you’re engaged with it, it can be really challenging’. The team’s task is to create user-friendly material for teachers that is engaging, fun, and can bring personality into the classroom. Stories will focus on contemporary scientists working on current scientific problems, with real world impact – like a scientist who is creating stem-cell derived heart patches, which can repair failing hearts. Heart disease, Professor Landers notes, is the number one cause of death in Australia. They will also feature a scientist who is researching the role of placentas in preeclampsia – a condition that impacts between 254,000 and 300,000 pregnancies in Australia every year. Many featured scientists are in the early stages of their careers. The message is to say ‘look at this amazing research scientists are doing that will change the world and save our lives. This is why it’s an important career’. ‘What we’re trying to do is use things that already captivate children: animations, storytelling, passion, life and death, big stakes, and weave that into the way that science is communicated.’ To ensure the successful delivery of the classroom materials, the research team has actively started to build a community of practitioners. They are engaging with convenors of the University of Technology Sydney’s primary school teaching program, and teachers from The Science Teachers Association of NSW (STANSW). They will also seek qualitative feedback directly from primary school students to gather real-time feedback. Professor Landers says the ARC funding has provided her team with an extraordinary opportunity, allowing them to ‘combine a creative outlook with a genuinely deep research question, which I think is incredible’.