Role Models in pSTEM Videos launched May 2022

Role Models in pSTEM: You can be what you can see

The project led by Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin and Dr Catherine Mooney of UCD was formally launched on 20 May 2022. The videos and resources are now public.

Ireland has highest proportion of STEM graduates in EU, but only 1 in 5 identify as female. The Role Models in pSTEM: You can be what you can see project was created to highlight positive role models for young women in the subjects of physics, mathematics, computer science and engineering.

WITS is delighted to be a partner on the project and we celebrate two individual WITS members Dr Sarah Markham and Dr Sandra Collins and WITS corporate member ESB apprentice electrician Emily Clarke as role models. Watch the role model videos here. You might like the 5 minute playlist or the 1 minute playlist.

By creating videos for use in classrooms and on social media, the project hopes to make more young women aware of the very many career paths and opportunities available to them by pursuing these subjects. The interviews explore the backgrounds and influences of each of the role models and highlight what they enjoy about what they do. There are teaching resources as well – both a handbook and a slide deck available from the project website.

The project is led by UCD and funded by the Higher Education Authority & Institute of Physics. Project partners include WITS (Women in Technology & Science), Institute of Guidance Counsellors, and the Mathematics, Science, Applied Mathematics and Engineering & Technology teacher associations.

Dr Catherine Mooney UCD Project Lead, Dr Marion Palmer WITS, Julie Hogan WITS. Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin UCD Project Lead