Ms Emily Sheridan:

I do not wish to get too anecdotal either. With regard to intersectionality and gender, we know that, while a person will have further to travel to the top because she is a woman, she will be even further down the scale if she is a woman with a disability or a woman from a working-class background. To achieve equity, all of that needs to be taken into consideration. Again, this is an anecdotal story but I have done a lot of maths grinds. I used to teach on the side, although not so much lately because I have been too busy. I have noticed a class component to people assuming their maths ability is bad. That is already a gendered thing but it is also not enforced enough. There is a wider variety of people who say "We are not good at maths." I emphasise "we". They are not just saying they personally are not good at maths but that "we" are not good at maths. It becomes a larger issue. Of course, in private schools there may be better-paid teachers and the ability to do extra grinds. It is already easier for people in those schools to get further along in these subjects.

With regard to my own personal story, I took part in the disability access route to education, DARE, scheme to get into Trinity. I would not have got into STEM in university but I got to do science in Trinity through the DARE scheme. I am doing a PhD now. I am well capable but I recognise that helping me, as a woman, to get there also meant helping me with the disability access route. You need to help the whole package of a person if you want to bring them forward rather than focusing on their gender alone.