Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and research are increasingly recognized globally as fundamental to national development and productivity, economic competitiveness and societal wellbeing. There has been a global turn to STEM that is clearly evident in government efforts worldwide to elaborate STEM policy governing school science and mathematics, and tertiary level education and research in the STEM disciplines. This shift is also reflected in emerging research priorities that are most frequently conceived in STEM terms, underpinned by commitments to internationalization and multidisciplinarity. This chapter explores STEM policies and programs from an international perspective extending from the Anglosphere, East Asia, Western Europe and Latin America to the Middle East. We identify discernible trends and parallels regarding government STEM policy and structural responses, school and tertiary level STEM education participation, comparative performance measured by international assessments such as PISA and TIMMS, STEM research and innovation, and issues concerning gender and under-represented groups. The chapter examines various programs and solutions including school-level curriculum and pedagogy reform to enhance science and mathematics participation and performance, teaching-related initiatives, and strategies at the tertiary-level to redress current systemic disparities.

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The University of Tasmania established a project in 2009 to investigate the particular needs of casual teaching staff, identify strategies to improve access to information, and facilitate a consistent approach to employment, induction, development and recognition. The project was managed by the university learning and teaching centre, and co-ordinated by a Reference Group. A preliminary survey in 2010 explored casual teaching staff information and resource needs and a mapping exercise was undertaken to establish institutional practices. The findings of the preliminary 2010 survey and mapping exercise prompted the development of an institution-wide Casual Teaching Staff Policy. The preliminary 2010 survey was subsequently updated and a second survey administered in 2012 to obtain additional baseline data against which to evaluate the casual teaching staff project and implementation of the Casual Teaching Staff Policy. This paper presents the results of the 2012 survey designed with this dual focus in mind. The 2012 survey items were explicitly aligned to the Sessional Staff Standards Framework arising from the Benchmarking Leadership and Advancement of Standards for Sessional Teaching (BLASST) project. The 2012 survey results were mapped to the Sessional Staff Standards Framework guiding principles (Quality Learning and Teaching, Sessional Staff Support and Sustainability), standards (Good Practice, Minimum Standard, Unsustainable), and criteria spanning different institutional levels (Institutional Level, Faculty Level, Department Level, Individual Level). Together the quantitative and qualitative survey data results provide a rich depiction of the world of casual teaching staff at the University of Tasmania. On the one hand the results evidence examples of well-supported, fully engaged casual teaching staff; on the other hand, a distressing picture emerges for many such staff. The findings are presented with discussion regarding the requisite ensuing steps in this ongoing initiative to improve the employment, induction, development and recognition experiences of University of Tasmania casual teaching staff.

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