CAREERS OF THE FUTURE THAT DON’T EXIST YET!

As the Summer holidays wrap up, the next challenge for mamas across the country starts to appear on the horizon - getting the kids back to school.

While uniforms, stationery and teachers are all strong considerations, it's also important to take a moment to think about the possible end goal for our children's educationa fulfilling career.

A recent report has predicted that in the near future 75% of jobs will require skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and that 65% of primary school children will end up in careers that don’t even exist yet!

It’s a concern, particularly for our young girls who currently represent only a quarter of students in STEM fields.

To put our minds at ease, an initiative by the Queensland University of Technology called STEM the Tide is helping to bridge this gender gap by shining a bright light on the incredible women already succeeding in these fields, the pathways available for young girls interested in STEM and encouraging them to take the leap!

It’s well known that the more visible successful women in these industries are and the paths they took to that success, the more young students can see themselves following those pathways.

Women in careers of the future like Tammy Bryant-Butow who has worked as a Chaos Engineer for major international companies like Apple, NAB and Dropbox where she breaks down digital systems to find their weaknesses.

Or Adrianna Eufrosina Bora, who is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Researcher working with the United Nations to eliminate modern slavery through the application of AI technology.

To help shine an even brighter light down these pathways, we’ve pulled together this list of emerging jobs of the future!

AI Ethicist

As AI continues to play a more significant role in our day-to-day lives, issues relating to the legality and ethics surrounding it grow too, indicating a need for advocacy in this field. Prospective students should possess an equal passion for philosophy and robotics alongside an analytic mind.

Self-driving car mechanic

While the role of the ordinary mechanic might become obsolete in future years, even selfdriving cars require maintenance and repair jobs only humans can perform. Picking up advanced software programming and data management skills secures this hands-on job against future redundancy.

Fashion engineer

With climate change now at the forefront of everyone’s mind, the environmental impact of industries is under increasing scrutiny. By combining scientific skills with textiles or fashion, students could map the ecological impact and efficacy of the industry’s practices.

Telesurgeon

As the COVID-19 pandemic becomes less reality and more memory, one practice born out of it — remote healthcare — has stayed put. Naturally, tele-surgeons would combine IT, robotics, and medical skills to operate on patients remotely via a surgical robotic system.

3D printed chef

Remember when the world thought smell-ovision would be the next frontrunner in food technology? While that never happened, 3D printing has advanced significantly over the past few years, making the prospect of whipping up meals via 3D printer very possible. By combining programming and software development skills, math competency, and a love of food, students could become the next big thing in this developing discipline.

Coding ethicist

Human rights activists can future proof their passion by applying their ethical stance to the world of coding. Coding ethicists hold a magnifying glass over companies coding practices, ensuring they adhere to global computing standards of ethics when creating algorithms and tech.

It’s clear that with new career options hatching alongside every technological development, female students are getting ahead of the game by arming themselves with a skillset to stand the test of time.