TELL ME ABOUT... The importance of considering careers in Stem

Daisy Garde from Bandon on the importance of the IWish showcase on Feb 28th, to inspire teen girls towards Stem careers

What do you think are the main barriers to young girls pursuing Stem careers? 

I love this quote from Marian Wright Edelman: ‘You can’t be what you can’t see.’ I think having role models is critical for young girls growing up, especially when you’re looking at primary school age. What children want to be when they grow up is largely based on someone they’ve met or seen on TV. So if you’re not seeing girls being represented in Stem fields when you’re younger, you’re far less likely to be excited about those kinds of jobs.  I think logically everyone knows that girls can be an engineer or computer scientist, but when it comes to making your subject or CAO choices, if you’ve never seen a woman working as a computer scientist, you’re much less likely to consider it an option for yourself.

How important was  IWish in encouraging you to study biotechnology in UCC?

Before IWish I knew I liked science, but I really didn’t know what jobs I could do with a science degree other than teaching and I didn’t want to be a teacher. It really opened my eyes to jobs I never knew existed. I saw all of these women talking about their jobs and where they worked and I realised that it could be me one day. They have the most amazing inspiring speakers every year, and I came away from the event so excited about Stem.  

Advice to any student thinking of attending this year? 

Ask all the questions you can possibly think of and talk to everyone you can! Everyone there is more than happy to talk about themselves or what they do. Take this opportunity to pick someone’s brain and see if you like the sound of their job.

• IWish showcase hybrid event takes place on February 28th in the RDS Dublin.
See  iwish.ie/register