b'Education matters A new model needed for geoscience education in AustraliaDavid Cohen d.cohen@unsw.edu.auThe viability of geoscience programmes in many universities around the World is being called into question by university administrators. This reflects the ongoing general decline in enrolments at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in most countries. Geophysics is reportedly suffering a greater decline in the number of students and departments capable of delivering relevant majors than other geoscience disciplines. Figure 1.Comparison between enrolments in geoscience courses in Australian universities and By contrast, the ageing professional geoscience workforce and predictedexpenditure in the minerals and petroleum exploration sectors, 2003-2017 (from Cohen 2018).increasing demand for graduates across most of the geoscience spectrum will require increased numbers of geoscience graduates, especially in the earth resources and the environmental management sectors. In essence, a growing mismatch between supply and demand.In Australian universities enrolments in geoscience majors since 2003 have been closely linked with the minerals exploration expenditure cycle (with a 2-year lag) and, to a lesser extent, expenditure in the petroleum exploration sector (Figure 1). This link is strong in the resource states but is becoming weaker in New South Wales and Victoria. There is little correlation Figure 2.Comparison between enrolments in undergraduate and postgraduate science programs with between university enrolments and other disciplines from 20142019 in UK universities (based on HESA data: www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-the number of students undertakinganalysis/students/table-8).geoscience-based subjects in the latter years of high school. The UK has also seen a progressive declinehave prompted various groups suchpurely by the free market and not a in geoscience enrolments, though itas the Australian Geoscience Councilcentrally-controlled allocation of places has not suffered the dramatic swingsand associated industry bodies, andlinked to future national workforce experienced in Australia (Figure 2).the Geological Society of London andneeds. For decades, the geosciences Whereas undergraduate enrolments inUniversity Geoscience UK joint workingin Australian universities have been US universities have doubled in the lastgroup (GSL-UGUK, 2019), to considercross-subsidised by major income-30 years and postgraduate enrolmentsmeans of stemming the decline. generating faculties such as business have remained stable (Figure 3), theand engineering. In recent times this extensive job losses in the oil and gasAustralian universities are funded tohas been boosted by income derived sectors are expected to begin to haveteach students not to find them jobs.from the massive influx of international an impact (Keane 2018). These trendsWithin limits, enrolments are drivenstudents. The value proposition DECEMBER 2020 PREVIEW 28'