NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes says the push to promote STEM subjects such as science and maths above other disciplines was an act of "intellectual snobbery", arguing schools should avoid educational "fads" by pushing a wide range of subjects including humanities.

Mr Stokes used the Balmoral Lecture at Queenwood School on Wednesday night to "challenge the dominance of the STEM orthodoxy in Australian education".

“STEM as a concept has become a buzzword,” Mr Stokes told students, parents and staff at the Mosman private girls’ school, which invites speakers to discuss big ideas.

“From government ministers to journalists – from industry CEO’s to senior public servants – people of influence are piling in to denounce the value of philosophy, the arts, and the social sciences – insisting that only by bowing before the altar of STEM will today’s students be adequately equipped to thrive in the 21st century.”