A series of events will be taking place across Cork on 12 February designed to attract more female secondary school students to careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
The brainchild of a number of female business leaders in Cork, I Wish is spearheaded by President of Cork Chamber Gillian Keating, it@cork Vice Chair Caroline O’Driscoll, and Ruth Buckley, head of IT at Cork City Council. It is also supported by UCC, CIT and Cork County Council.
“There is a huge variety of exciting careers in the STEM sector, and having heard many times ‘I wish I knew more about the opportunities for women in the world of science and technology or engineering and math’ from female students, mothers and teachers. We decided to tackle the issue head on,” said Keating. “So on 12 February, throughout the city and county of Cork, there will be talks; demonstrations; [and] interactive hubs where female secondary school students can meet, see and talk to inspiring women working in STEM roles across a huge variety of sectors. From start-ups to large multinationals, the I Wish events will really show students how they can have very fulfilling and interesting careers with STEM choices.”
Doctor and host of Channel 4’s Embarassing Bodies Pixie McKenna will open the event at City Hall, and host a talk about career development and the benefits of having a background in STEM. Students will also hear from female leaders in Google, Facebook and Twitter, as well as young women on careers in a traditionally heavily male-dominated areas such as marine engineering and the navy.
According to a recent report from Accenture and Women Invent Tomorrow 44% of secondary school students in Ireland said STEM subjects were more suited to boys than girls; 60% of students said their parents were key influencers in subject choices; yet 68% of parents felt only moderately, poorly or very poorly informed about STEM career opportunities.
“Industry will benefit enormously if more students take up careers in the STEM sector,” said Caroline O’Driscoll, Vice Chair of it@cork. “The figures show that to grow our skills pipeline to meet jobs in Ireland, we need to increase the number of women entering the job market with skills across science, technology, engineering and math. The I Wish programme is about collaboration across education, industry and universities and colleges as well as business and support organisations, to grow the number of women in STEM.”
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