Passports for Inclusion hopes for increase in STEM studies
Students from Lucan Community College, St Joseph’s Lucan, St Paul’s Secondary School in Greenhills and Our Lady of Mercy in Drimnagh were among those to recently graduate from the STEM Passport for Inclusion Programme, experiencing a notable boost in confidence and a heightened intent to pursue STEM education at third level, reports Jenna Schweikert.
The STEM Passport for Inclusion is a national initiative which provides girls who are in Transition Year with the opportunity to participate in a University-accredited qualification in STEM.
STEM Passport for Inclusion was launched two years ago with an ambition to address inequalities in accessing STEM careers among post-primary students in socially disadvantaged communities. The programme’s innovative approach, which combines an educational qualification (Level 6 NFQ), education supports, and mentoring from industry role models, provides a unique pathway for students to progress to third-level education and achieve a STEM qualification.
Since the launch of the pilot programme two years ago, 1,250 students have participated, leading to a significant increase in the students’ confidence and intention to pursue STEM education at third level.
At the recent 2023 STEM Passport for Inclusion graduation 300 female senior cycle students from 17 DEIS schools in Leinster received a certificate for participating in the newly developed Level 6 NFQ certificate in 21st Century STEM Skills.
Students from Our Lady’s
At the graduation, which took place at Maynooth University, Microsoft Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland, and the Department of Education, announced the nationwide expansion of the STEM Passport for Inclusion initiative.
This expansion aims to reach an additional 5,000 students, fostering greater engagement in STEM disciplines across the country. Microsoft is the STEM Passport for Inclusion’s lead industry partner, having contributed €600,000 in match funding to date. More than 200 of Microsoft’s employees are actively supporting the STEM Passport for Inclusion mentoring programme, alongside other educators and representatives from private and public sector organisations.
Welcoming the announcement, Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD, said: “It is important that every student in our schools has equal access to develop the skills and knowledge for success. STEM Passport for Inclusion is an important initiative in broadening access to STEM and fostering a more diverse and inclusive culture.
“Following the success of the pilot, I am pleased with the expansion of the programme nationwide to support more students from socially disadvantaged communities to consider STEM within school and as they make their journey into the world of work.
“By working together across Government, industry, and the education sector, we can ensure that everyone, regardless of gender, background, or socioeconomic status, has the opportunity to thrive in our future economy.”
Students from St Paul’s Greenhills
Speaking about the plans to extend STEM Passport for Inclusion, Dr Katriona O’Sullivan, Digital Skills Lecturer at Maynooth University, said: “We’re delighted to announce the expansion of the STEM Passport for Inclusion initiative. The impact to date has been far-reaching and it was so nice to be able to make this announcement as we mark the graduation of this group of students from Maynooth University.
“Some of them will be the first in their family or school to get a university award and many will not have taken any science, technology, or engineering subjects in school. We are delighted for them.
“Since we launched the pilot programme two years ago, 1,250 students have engaged with the initiative, with a significant increase in the students’ confidence and intention to study STEM in the future achieved.
“We are hugely excited to be able to roll the initiative out nationwide across academic years 2023 to 2025 – we currently have 2,000 students from DEIS schools registered in three universities taking the module. Furthermore, the students will have the opportunity to benefit from mentoring from more than 600 mentors from 40 companies across Ireland.
“We have also just agreed in Maynooth to pilot a DEIS STEM pathway where students who participate on the programme in future years will become eligible to apply for 50 Leaving Cert points towards Engineering and Computer Science degrees in our university. This is real innovation in education; higher education working with each other and with post primary education, and industry, to create STEM pathways for under-served girls.”
