Dr. Aisling Soden:

I agree completely with Ms McGee and Ms McMahon. It is about different messaging for different ages, including for children and parents. At primary school level, you want to nurture that curiosity and creativity. All children ask questions and you want to build on that. You want to build that love of learning and that desire to innovate and to inquire. That should be done through primary school. When they progress into secondary school, there should be options there for them to look at so they can do a science or technology subject. It is a matter of ensuring we instill the love of asking questions, curiosity and the innovative mindset at that young age, as well as ensuring they have those opportunities at secondary school. As Ms McGee says, not all STEM subjects are available, so that shuts off opportunities. That will have an impact on the pipeline further down when we are looking to fill different careers.

In addition, it is important for parents to understand the types of roles - not specific roles, but the career options and career areas. We often say, "You can only be what you see". Even for people in their ordinary, everyday lives as parents, you will only see certain roles. You might say in passing to your children, "That is an option for a career" and children pick up on that. It is about educating parents about the possibilities and the various sectors children could go into.