Erin Siostrom is an educator and science education researcher. Over the past decade, she has taught in secondary and tertiary institutions throughout Queensland, and currently teaches into the School of Education and Tertiary Access as an Associate Lecturer. She coordinates into STEM enabling courses for the Tertiary Preparation Pathway (TPP) and STEM Initial Teacher Education programs for future senior science teachers. Her research interests include STEM education, education policy and non-traditional entrants into STEM teaching careers and STEM tertiary education pathways.
Professional Memberships
- Member of Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Australasia (EPHEA)
Awards/Fellowships
- Associate Fellow of Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)
- Regional Universities Network (RUN) Learning and Teaching Awards 2023
Professional Social Media
- Review has ideas to encourage mid-career professionals to join and stay in teaching. (2023, June 19). Sunshine Coast News. https://www.sunshinecoastnews.com.au/2023/06/19/how-more-professionals-could-be-enticed-to-become-teachers/
- The Chief Scientist Storytime Pledge
Research areas
- STEM education
- Science and STEM education participation and pathways
- • STEM teacher motivation
Teaching areas
Featured publications
- Siostrom, E, Mills, R, Bourke, T. (2023). A scoping review of factors that influence career changers’ motivations and decisions when considering teaching. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2023.2208051
- Siostrom, E, Mills, R, Bourke, T. (2023, May). Working with kids, being passionate about a subject, making a difference: what makes people switch careers to teaching? The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/working-with-kids-being-passionate-about-a-subject-making-a-difference-what-makes-people-switch-careers-to-teaching-205999
- Siostrom, E. (2022, December 27). 4 creepy crawlies you’ll see more of this wet summer – and one iconic beetle you’ll probably miss. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/4-creepy-crawlies-youll-see-more-of-this-wet-summer-and-one-iconic-beetle-youll-probably-miss-190915
- Mills, R, Bourke, T., & Siostrom, E. (2020). Complexity and Contradiction: Disciplinary Expert Teachers in Primary Science and Mathematics Education, Teaching and Teacher Education, 89, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.103010
- Bourke, T., Mills, R., & Siostrom, E. (2020). Origins of Primary Specialisation in Australian Education Policy: What’s the Problem Represented to Be?’, Australian Educational Researcher , 47(5), 725-740. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-00370-y
Erin's specialist areas of expertise are STEM education, science specialism and the role of lived experiences in STEM participation and pathway.
In the news
From medicine to the classroom: Teaching the next generation
5 Jun 2023With many teachers leaving the profession, what drives someone like Ashwita Venkatesh to give up her career as a medical doctor to teach senior psychology and mathematics to high school students?
Making a difference: what makes people switch careers to teaching?
26 May 2023Mid-career or “career change” students are increasingly common in teacher education programs, UniSC's Erin Siostrom writes for The Conversation.