I Wish STEM showcase returns as hybrid event

An annual event aimed at encouraging teenage girls to take an interest in science, technology, engineering and maths is taking place in Dublin today, with more than 15,000 expected to attend.

The ninth annual I Wish STEM Showcase is being held as a hybrid event, with up to 3,000 girls attending in person and an expected 15,000 accessing the virtual live broadcast.

The project started in 2015 with 1,000 students and has expended since to include outreach activities, mentorship programmes, laptop donations, further education programmes and showcase events.

“The world needs more innovation, at I Wish we want to ensure that the next generation of women are fully empowered and enabled to deliver it. The girls have demonstrated that with the right support young women with great ideas will deliver revolutionary technologies,” said Gillian Keating, co-founder of I Wish.

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“I Wish is committed to giving teenage girls the best chance to succeed through STEM pathways, providing vital access to female role models and addressing issues of a lack of information or opportunity in order to create a level playing field. This is particularly important in the lead up to International Women’s Day on March 8th.”

Speakers at this year’s event include international hockey star and mechanical engineer Nicci Daly; and Deputy Ambassador at the Embassy of Ireland in Washington DC Geraldine Nason Byrne.

The event will also feature a “Students Voices” session with former Irish president Mary Robinson and climate change activist Sarah Bryant, during which the former president answers questions submitted by students from schools around the country.

“Today is about two things. It’s about giving girls access to inspiring female role models in STEM and showing the girls what it’s like to work in STEM, and we do that in our exhibition zone,” said Caroline O’Driscoll, co-founder of I Wish. “It’s such a fantastic opportunity for girls to learn more about this fast growing area.”

The event will also see the winner of the first I Wish Stripe Entrepreneurship Programme announced. The programme, which is being supported by the Irish-founded payments company, is aimed at giving teenage girls the skills to develop their business ideas, encouraging the establishment of more female-founded businesses.

The winning team, which will be chosen from five groups of female students who worked with Stripe mentors to build their initial idea into a business proposal, will receive €5,000 to support the further development of their idea, and their school.

“Studying maths and learning how to code opens up a whole world of opportunity. You could play a crucial role in solving generational challenges like climate change, responding to the next pandemic, expanding economic opportunity, and much more. Inspiring more young women to pursue careers in these fields – and better yet start their own businesses – is one of the most obvious ways to accelerate progress,” said Stripe cofounder John Collison. “Stripe’s entrepreneurship programme with I Wish is a small part of this effort, and I’d encourage any female students who like solving problems to have a crack!”

Also speakers include Stripe software engineer Leticia Portella; Johnson & Johnson Vision’s senior automation engineer Jessica Dino; and Arushi Doshi, manager in cybersecurity and forensics with Deloitte.