26th Australian Institute of Physics Congress and the Australian and New Zealand Conference on Optics and Photonics

Session

AIP PEG: Demographics in Physics

PEG

9 Dec 2026, 14:30

Belinda Hutchinson Building (The University of Sydney )

Conveners

AIP PEG: Demographics in Physics

• Silvia Behar Harpaz (UNSW)

843. Participation in Secondary School Physics

09/12/2026, 14:30

AIP | Physics Education (PEG)

Invited talk

The presentation will report on trends over time of the enrolments in final year secondary physics as a percentage of the age cohort. Most of the states will be individually covered. There will also be a more detailed analysis of data from Victoria, including the retention from Year 10 to Year 11 physics and from Year 11 physics to Year 12 physics. This will be an update on the presentation...

329. Eclipsed by gender: Australian Women in Physics

Toner Stevenson (The University of Sydney)

09/12/2026, 15:00

AIP | Physics Education (PEG)

Contributed Oral

"There is no problem in science that can be solved by a man that cannot be solved by a woman" said North American astronomer, Vera Rubin. Yet the percentage of women, compared to men, solving problems in physics in Australia, is far from equitable. One of the factors cited by educators is the lack of representation of female physicists in the school science curricula. There are many obvious...

798. Rebuilding the Australian Physics Pipeline: Enrolment Decline, Teacher Capacity, and Curriculum Relevance

Benjamin Kelley

09/12/2026, 15:15

AIP | Physics Education (PEG)

Contributed Oral

Australian physics education faces a pipeline crisis. Declining senior physics enrolments reduce the pool of students entering physics-intensive university courses, while shortages of physics-trained teachers weaken the conditions needed to attract, retain, and develop future physics students. In many schools, physics is sustained by small classes, isolated teachers, heavy workloads, limited...