Fidelity Investments, DCU work on closing gender gap with scholarship programme
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Pictured: Peter Hubbert and Lorna Martyn, Fidelity Investments; Dr Maura Coulter and Dr Aisling Twohill, DCU
Fidelity Investments has begun a collaboration with Dublin City University to increase levels of women entering careers in STEM.
Women make up 54.8% of the overall higher education population in Ireland, yet their representation in STEM and ICT disciplines remains disproportionately low. Just one in three students enrolled in STEM courses at third level are female. In ICT specifically, nearly three-quarters of students are male (74.9%), with women accounting for only 24.6%, according to the Higher Education Authority’s 2023/2024 data.
The gender gap is evident even earlier in the education pipeline: in 2023, only 29% of Leaving Certificate physics students were girls, with similarly low figures in computer science (21%), technology (17%) and even lower in engineering (9%), according to the CSO.
Through a two-year research project facilitated by DCU Educational Trust, Fidelity Ireland and DCU’s Institute of Education will uncover the barriers and opportunities that influence females’ engagement with STEM subjects in schools. Fidelity Ireland is investing €184,000 in this initiative, highlighting the importance of gaining insights that can help close the gap in STEM education uptake and driving interest in STEM courses at third level.
Building on its ongoing Women in STEM Scholarship Fund with DCU, this new research collaboration represents the next step in Fidelity Ireland’s efforts to drive lasting change. The scholarship fund, delivered in collaboration with DCU’s Faculty of Engineering & Computing, DCU Sport, and the DCU Access Programme, offers a wide range of financial and developmental supports designed to inspire and enable more young women from diverse backgrounds to pursue studies and careers in STEM.
Lorna Martyn, head of corporate services technology at Fidelity Investments, said: “By engaging in this research, and through our Scholarship programme, we aim to create a future where more women can thrive in STEM careers, ensuring Ireland remains a hub for innovation and talent. Our common goal is to better understand the interventions that may positively impact the participation gap in STEM education and careers. Collaborations with institutions like DCU demonstrate the power of industry and academia working together to drive systemic change.”
Through this research collaboration, Fidelity Ireland and DCU will investigate why girls are not sustaining participation in STEM at senior cycle and beyond, identifying actionable recommendations to strengthen engagement and outcomes.
“At DCU, as part of our mission to transform lives and societies, we are committed to ensuring every student has the opportunity to achieve their potential within the STEM disciplines,” said Dr Aisling Twohill at DCU Institute of Education. “Through this important collaboration with Fidelity Investments Ireland, we can deepen our understanding of the barriers girls and young women face, and identify solutions that empower more girls to thrive in STEM subjects and careers. This collaboration brings together world-class research and industry leadership to help close the gender gap and create a more equal future for innovation in Ireland and beyond.”
The two-phase study will combine an assessment of the state-of-the-art in the field of sustaining engagement in STEM for all children, with interviews, surveys, and focus groups involving students, parents, teachers, and professionals who once faced similar choices. Findings will inform national policy and classroom practice, feed into global research on effective interventions and strengthening the pipeline of female talent into higher education and industry.
Applications for the Women in STEM Scholarship are now open to eligible undergraduate students in DCU School of Computing, with a deadline of 24 October.
TechCentral Reporters