Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 February 2022
120. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will report on the work to increase the number of female apprentices as part of the national Action Plan on Apprenticeship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6073/22]
View answer506. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his Department is pursing specific strategies to increase the number of women undertaking apprenticeship courses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6107/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 120 and 506 together.
One of the five overarching objectives of the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 is "Apprenticeship for All". In other words, ensuring that the profile of the apprenticeship population more closely reflects the profile of the general population. By December 2021, there were a total of 1,535 female apprentices, up from 60 in 2016 and only 665 at the end of 2019.
This increase is mainly due to the expansion of apprenticeship into new areas. Many of these new programmes are in occupations that have greater gender balance in the workplace such as financial services where 52% of participants are female across the four apprenticeships in the sector. Women also feature more strongly in the new apprenticeships in the hospitality, healthcare, property, sales, biopharma and ICT sectors. However, it is also important to note that female representation in craft apprenticeship has doubled in the last two and a half years.
The Action Plan contains a number of key deliverables designed to secure significantly greater diversity by:-
- including the voice of under-represented cohorts in apprenticeship;
- putting in place an inclusive apprenticeship access and delivery structure; and
- monitoring and assessing targets and developing appropriate interventions.
A bursary of €2,666 is paid by SOLAS to employers of female apprentices in one of the 25 craft apprenticeships to encourage them to employ female apprentices. This bursary is being extended to all apprenticeship programmes with greater than 80% representation of a single gender. The bursary is being finalised and details of this scheme will be released in the near future.
Information on apprenticeship was included on the CAO website for the first time for CAO 2022. This is expected to make a significant contribution to showing the range of learning and qualification options for school leavers. As part of this landmark change, a freephone helpline has been introduced for learners, parents and guidance counsellors to provide information on apprenticeship, including how to find an employer. The helpline supplements the existing guidance counsellor service at post-primary and further education and training levels.
There has also been a specific focus on female participation as part of the Generation Apprenticeship national promotional campaign. SOLAS ran a media campaign over three weeks in January 2021 promoting the apprenticeship route and celebrating diversity and the 1,000th female apprentice.
An all-female Software Developer Associate Apprenticeship programme commenced in November 2019 in conjunction with Fastrack into IT (FIT). It is a 2 year course offered at level 6 of the National Framework of Qualifications. The off the job training is being delivered by Liberties College which is under the remit of the City of Dublin Education and Training Board. A high level of interest has been reported in this programme to date.
The general push towards women in STEM roles under the STEM Education Strategy and the ICT Skills Action Plan should feed through to the apprenticeship intakes.
Under the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 , targets and interventions for specific groups will be detailed through an Equity of Access subcommittee of the National Apprenticeship Alliance. This will ensure that the voice of under-represented groups is integral to the development of the apprenticeship system.
I am satisfied that these measures and the implementation process for the Apprenticeship Action Plan overall will have a significant impact in ensuring greater diversity in the apprenticeship population as a whole.
