LILY SERNA: THE MATHEMATICIAN DATA ANALYST AND PRESENTER
An early passion for problem-solving sparked the remarkable career of Lily Serna.
Lily Serna was five years old when she was first exposed to the concept of infinity. “I remember being in the car with my granddad and we were counting together from one to 100,” says the TV presenter and mathematician. “At the time, 100 was the biggest number I could imagine, but he told me that no matter what number you can think of, there is always a number that is bigger. I just remember being completely bewildered by the endless possibilities.”
Born in Jerusalem, Serna moved to Australia aged eight. As she grappled with the transition from Arabic to English at school, she was drawn to the universal language of numbers. Her decision to study mathematics at university was based on a love of problemsolving – “it’s a way to use your mind to break down problems and think about the world in a systematic and logical way”.
Today, Serna is a vocal champion of gender diversity in the field of mathematics as well as working full-time as a data analyst at the multi-billion-dollar Australian software empire Atlassian. In 2012, she was made a board member of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute and an Australian Numeracy Ambassador. However, the crusade to increase female participation in STEM industries has not always been on her agenda. In fact, Serna recalls being completely oblivious to the fact that her maths classes at university were male-dominated.
It is a blissful ignorance she attributes to her upbringing. Raised in a family that deeply values the discipline of mathematics, Serna believes she “was sheltered from the stereotypes that society imposes on girls from a very early age; like the idea that it’s not cool to study maths or that girls aren’t as good at maths as boys are. I was allowed to explore my curiosity without having any stigmas attached to the subject.”
It wasn’t until she landed the role of mathematical expert on the SBS show Letters and Numbers that “I realised that this was a wonderful opportunity to be a positive role model for women in STEM”. Serna has since gone on to host several more shows and published her own puzzle book, building a public profile that has inadvertently established her as a role model for women in STEM.
In Australia, women remain heavily underrepresented in STEM industries; women represent 35 per cent of graduates in mathematics and even less in engineering, at 14 per cent, while in countries like Jordan and China women account for 40 per cent of engineering graduates, and 70 per cent in Iran. The discrepancies suggest that the problem is systemic. Cultural environments where the pursuit of STEM subjects is highly valued among women are conducive to higher female participation rates in those industries. “In Middle Eastern culture, mathematics is celebrated and it has been for centuries … those prejudices don’t exist for women wanting to pursue maths.”
When asked what needs to be done to encourage more women to participate in STEM, she advises: “It starts off in the home. You often see parents are intimidated by the discipline and so repeatedly you hear people say: ‘I’m not a tech or maths person’, but you don’t hear people say: ‘I’m illiterate’ with the same passion. It’s about creating an environment where no biases exist and allowing children to explore for themselves.”