Girls into Geoscience - Ireland

The geosciences are an undeniably male-dominated sector (80/20 male/female in 2008). This has led to a loss of female talent and lack of diversity within the sector. Retention of female students in the geosciences is highest where students can identify with same gender career/industry leaders (Hernandez et al., Geosphere, Vol. 14,6, 2018), yet with few obvious female role models, poor female student retention has become a self-perpetuating problem. Girls into Geoscience was instigated in Plymouth in 2014 to interrupt this cycle. Girls around the ages of 16-17 and with any level of geoscience knowledge were invited to Plymouth to be introduced to the subject by leading females in the geoscience field. The annual event has proven so successful that it has now been taken up in Ireland.

Girls into Geoscience – Ireland (GiGie) is now at the end of its second year, having run three successful events across Ireland. GiGie has taken the form of day-long events which incorporate workshops, talks, networking and field-trip style elements. These events have been hosted in academic institutions and rotate annually to reach multiple areas of Ireland which often have limited access to STEM activities. So far, events have been hosted in Cork, Galway and Dublin. 100% of participants at the Cork event fed back that they were more likely to study geoscience, and similarly 83% of participants in Galway were now more likely to consider studying geosciences. 100% of Galway participants also had an increased understanding of geoscience careers, which is important considering the negative perceptions that are commonly attributed to careers in the geosciences. Suggestions from the events in Cork and Galway led us to incorporate a field-trip style element to the day, which was run for the first time in Dublin. The future of GiGie is bright. A planned expansion of the programme could lead to its most successful year yet. Across in the UK, expansion is also in action with further events taking place in Scotland, and a junior event being developed in Leicester. Gender balance is far from equal yet, but change is happening. We look forward to seeing Girls into Geoscience flourish.

“I loved (that) it was for girls. (It) made me feel more confident and that its possible to do science as a girl” – Participant, Cork.