Dr. Patricia Mulcahy:

We looked at the quality perspective when we were answering that question. I have over 30 years of experience in higher education. As a biochemist with a deep passion for all things STEM for a long time, it puzzles me why more people are not attracted into STEM. Many studies have been done on it. It is a challenge. Delivery of science subjects in secondary schools has improved significantly. I see the kind of curriculum they are developing and so on and I do not believe that the issue necessarily resides there. Therefore, it must be elsewhere. There is a disproportionate number of male students coming in to some of the STEM areas as opposed to female students. There is a need for strong role models. I wonder if ultimately the difficulty is the attractiveness or identification with careers and future prospects in a number of STEM areas. Many efforts are going on right across the country to get companies more involved and to show students the types of career possibilities and what the day-to-day work of a scientist, a computing technologist or whatever it might be looks like. People can relate to games development and other things like that. It is more difficult when it comes to analytical science. Given the pandemic and the focus on science and the wonderful achievements in science in the past year, I wonder whether we will see a surge in people coming into the sciences. I really hope that is the case. It is a rewarding career but we have to get better at promoting it.

The regional skills forums that are scattered across the nine regions are working hard on that. I chaired the forum in the south-east region. The future of careers is attempting to do that. We are liaising with and supporting schools and their students to make this choice. It is a mixture of things.

I would also say that the facilities in the colleges are a part of that. If the laboratories are not modern and up to date when students come into the university and they see other areas that are shinier and newer, that is also an issue. The public private partnership projects are really important. Carlow's public private partnership is a science building and that is very much geared towards increasing students and graduates in that area.