UCD research to explore the experiences of women in STEM

The first in-depth research project of its kind in UCD capturing women’s experience working in engineering

The Smurfit Kappa Newman Fellowship on Women in STEM will explore the barriers that women face to stay in engineering professions.

As part of this research, Smurfit Kappa Newman Fellow Dr Deirdre Brennan is collecting data through an anonymous five-minute survey.

Researching the experiences of women in STEM, by UCD

This two-year project will investigate the experiences of women working in STEM roles. It will focus specifically on the engineering sector, where women are underrepresented, and will investigate why women choose to leave careers in engineering. In light of industry-wide challenges, such as the impacts of climate change, there is a real need for women’s representation at all levels, including C-suite level, for complex decision-making conversations, and for teams to be more diverse and inclusive.

The Newman Fellowship research seeks to uncover the needs and experiences of women working in engineering in order to directly impact how industries attract and retain women working in these important roles.

The survey is intended for those who identify as a woman, who work, or have previously studied or worked in engineering, in Ireland.

Dr Deirdre Brennan said: “I am delighted to be conducting such meaningful research on the experiences of women working in engineering. I hope my project allows for insightful results which will lead to solutions based on how to retain more women in the engineering workforce. This survey plays a huge role in capturing quantitative data for the Irish female engineering workforce and I would encourage any woman who ever worked in the profession to take the time to fill it out and help contribute to a fairer, more equal engineering workforce.”

Dr Brennan is supervised by Dean of Engineering Professor Aoife Ahern and Associate Professor in Gender Studies Dr Aideen Quilty. Her Newman Fellowship is based in UCD School of Engineering over the next two years.

Prof Ahern looks forward to seeing the impact this research could have in Ireland.

She said: “Increasing the representation of women in engineering is an important aim, and we have had some success at encouraging more women to study engineering, with intake now standing at approximately 30% of our classes in UCD. However, we also need to look at how women can be retained in the profession, and to examine what needs to be done to encourage women to be leaders in engineering – in business, the public sector and academia.

Engineers play an important role in solving the most pressing needs of the world – for example in designing solutions for climate change and the energy crisis, or provision of more sustainable infrastructure. However, if women do not enter into engineering and stay in the engineering profession, they are in danger of being left out of those solutions.”

Dr Brennan’s Newman Fellowship is supported by Smurfit Kappa through a philanthropic donation to UCD.

Smurfit Kappa is committed to an inclusive, diverse and equal workforce.

Sharon Whitehead, Vice President of HR at Smurfit Kappa, said: “We are particularly passionate about this area of research. As a large multinational employer, we know how important it is to have a gender balanced and diverse workplace that offers equal opportunity for career progression.”

The Fellowship is part of the wider Newman Fellowship Programme at UCD, which since its establishment in 1989, has seen leading Irish and multinational corporations, semi-state bodies, voluntary organisations and individuals support high-calibre, post-doctoral research across the humanities and sciences.

Survey link: https://eu.surveymonkey.com/r/WomeninEngineeringIreland

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