Dr. Ruth Freeman:

I thank Senator Dolan for those questions. I will try to be brief so we can get through them all. On accreditation, there are lots of models in other professions whereby we can recognise CPD more broadly, rather than just the CPD coming through the Department of Education. We should be thinking about where can we get teachers to go out and get these skills. We can then accredit them and make sure they reach a certain standard and they can use a portfolio of different accreditation. At primary school we have the green schools and the discover primary science and maths, DPSM, programmes. We can develop a model of accredited skills for teachers. We do it in engineering and accountancy and loads of other professions so we can do that.

When it comes to role models, we have done research and spoken to thousands of students in their first year of college. We have spoken to 3,000 or 4,000 students and asked them detailed questions about why they are doing the course they are doing. The biggest factor in determining the course is whether they think they will fit in with the other people on the course. They are thinking about whether they will be like the other people on the course, and that is true whether they choose a STEM subject or a non-STEM subject. As a society we need to think about what kind of role models we are putting out there. In the STEM area we work with RTÉ and that is why we do things like Science Week. It is about opportunities to get out there and present all these different kinds of careers and options and show people that they can be a scientist, for example. We have to smash those stereotypes and that is just as much the case in the arts. There are probably young boys out there who are interested in dance and music and may feel that stereotypes are not allowing them to pursue their passions.

We hugely welcome the new options on the CAO form. STEM has consistently been associated with high academic achievement in maths but we know there is a range involved. We need far more diverse ways of thinking in STEM than just people who are getting top marks in higher level maths.

I fully endorse having a broad range of pathways into STEM. STEM needs to be broad and diverse if we are to solve the problems.