Research needed on cultural capital, STEM endeavours and instructional innovations : a call for "collaborations between nations"

New Australian curriculum documents and government initiatives advocate the inclusion of Asian perspectives, which is highly relevant to the STEM fields. For Australia and other countries, STEM education is an opportunity to develop competencies towards employment in high-demand areas, yet the world’s knowledge of STEM is changing rapidly, requiring continuous analysis to meet market demands. This paper presents the need for “collaborations between nations” through research to advance each country’s STEM agenda towards further globalisation of education with the sharing of knowledge. Research is needed on views of what constitutes cultural capital for STEM, which also involves understanding past and current STEM endeavours occurring within various countries. Most importantly for STEM education is uncovering instructional innovations aligned with countries’ cultures and STEM endeavours. Research questions are provided in this paper to stimulate ideas for investigating in these fields. Economically, and as demonstrated recently by Greece and Spain, countries throughout the world can no longer operate independently for advancing standards of living. The world needs to recognise interdependence not only in trade and resources but also through the knowledge base that exists within countries. Learning together globally means transitioning from independence to interdependence in STEM education that will help each country meet global demands.