Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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25. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will outline his Department’s strategy to encourage more female participation in science, technology, engineering and maths; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36763/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Government’s STEM Education Policy Statement was published in 2017 and targets a 40% increase in the number of females taking STEM subjects for Leaving Certificate, which is critical for driving better participation at third level.

Existing programmes to encourage women into STEM careers include Springboard+ and Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Pillar 1. There is a broad range of courses in STEM related areas.

HCI Pillar 3 will deliver 24 projects in higher education institutions, 20 of which involve collaborations between institutions. These projects also have a strong focus on STEM.

The TU Dublin led Convene project has introduced two new initiatives to support and develop enterprise leaders: an Executive Ph.D. for Enterprise-Based Leaders and an MBA in Life Sciences Leadership (starting Sept 2022). Convene and the TU Dublin Graduate School of Business and School of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences have collaborated with the 30% Club. This will offer two scholarships for successful women applicants to boost gender representation in the Life Sciences sector.

It is also vital that we ensure that apprenticeships are seen as an option by people across society. Only a very small proportion of apprentices are women, and it is vital that we support greater diversity. That is why I announced a new gender-based bursary for apprenticeship employers. The bursary, which is worth €2,666, is available to employers who employ apprentices on any national apprenticeship programme with greater than 80% representation of a single gender.

These initiatives will be supported through wider moves to drive gender equality in the higher education system, including through the National Gender Equality Dashboard for Higher Education Institutions; the Athena Swan Charter and the Senior Academic Leadership Initiative (SALI) which is increasing the number of women involved in decision making roles in higher education.