Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 November 2023
255. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science what his Department is doing to attract and promote women to the area of science and science courses in technological universities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50308/23]
View answerInclusion is one of the core strategic goals for my Department, and my ambition is to ensure that we provide supports and opportunities for learning to all. The Government’s STEM Education Policy Statement was published in 2017 and targets a 40% increase in the number of females taking STEM subjects for Leaving Certificate, which is critical for driving better participation at third level. On 18 May 2021, Minister Foley and I announced details of a new partnership between Science Foundation Ireland and the Department of Education to support education and public engagement projects in STEM across the country. The Department of Education will contribute up to €500,000 towards successful projects under the SFI Discover Programme, with the aim of supporting effective interventions in the early-years STEM education continuum. This was a welcome partnership between Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Department of Education.
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is committed to increasing the number of SFI grants held by woman researchers, as described in its Gender Strategy. In 2021 the Frontiers for Partnership was launched to support highly excellent, impactful research. As a result 15 projects led by TUs and IOTs in Ireland have received €16.2m in funding, three of which were led by woman researchers in the TUs and four of which had woman co-leads in the Universities.
In order to support enhanced focus on research activities within the TU/IoT sector, all applicants to the Frontiers for the Future Programmes can apply for teaching replacement of up to 50% of their teaching load for the full duration of the grant. In the last round of funding, 33% of projects were led by women. The SFI-IRC Pathway programme has a key objective to increase the representation of women in the higher education sector. The programme runs on a quota system where each research body, including the TU/IoT sector may nominate a maximum of 16 STEM-led and 8 AHSS-led applications. No more than eight of the 16 STEM-led, and four of the 8 AHSS-led, nominated applicants may be men. The last round of funding resulted in a 50% is a strong endorsement of the programme as a key part of the SFI Gender strategy success rate for women researchers. STEM education is critical to our future growth in talent and for economic development. Young people are our scientists and researchers of the future. This will benefit many young learners across the country and encourage them to engage with science subjects, and hopefully consider a career in STEM in the future.
Existing programmes to support, encourage and attract women to STEM in Higher Education include Springboard+ and the Human Capital Initiative. Springboard+ and Human Capital Initiative Pillar 1 continues to complement the core State-funded education and training system and provides free and subsidised upskilling and reskilling higher education opportunities in areas of identified skills need. Springboard+ 2023 has a strong STEM focus, 62.35% of courses are in STEM areas. Under HCI Pillar 1 2023 62% of HCI Pillar 1 course places in academic year 2023 are in STEM-related areas.
