“When am I ever going to use this?” Every parent has probably heard this remark from their child at some stage whilst they completed their maths homework.

In today’s society more and more workplaces are recognising the value and importance of mathematics. There are many exciting career opportunities for students with a background in mathematics. In an ever-evolving digital world, these opportunities will only continue to grow.

Currently, mathematicians and statisticians are highly sought-after in the workplace as they are seen to provide a competitive advantage. A mathematician’s approach to problems will generally be analytical, creative and logical. Findings will then be evaluated and rationalised and communicated so that processes are improved, or completely altered to produce greater efficiency.

Fields including sports science and games analysis, software design, security and defence and transport and logistics, all call for a robust working knowledge of mathematics to provide evaluations of quantitatively delivered information.

So back to your child’s question on when will they ever use mathematics in their adult lives? The answer is…every day. Through a sound knowledge of mathematics, we all problem solve, make critical assessments and think analytically, without even realising it is the foundations of mathematics that have developed these skills.

Arithmetic, algebra, complex numbers, probability and statistics are all elements that have a place in our everyday lives and will at different times inform, formulate and model scenarios for our understanding.

At St Catherine’s we strongly encourage our students to continue their study of Mathematics into the senior years of schooling, particularly if their post-school goals are to complete further studies in the fields of science, medicine, engineering, technology and finance and data analytics including actuarial studies.

We encourage our students to be skilled and versed in the language of mathematics, equipping them with the ability to deliver complex information quickly, analyse efficiently and scrutinise and discern to ensure accuracy and precision. Additionally, mathematics allows us to forecast and sufficiently explain and model the working world around us.

Through the study of Mathematics our students acquire critical thinking skills that they can apply to both routine and complex tasks, garner inquiry, develop confidence and build a set of competencies that will springboard them into tertiary study.

For further sources of inspiration on why studying Mathematics is so valuable I encourage you and your daughter to visit this link https://careers.amsi.org.au/search-careers/.