44 per cent of young Irish girls think of a male figure when asked to picture a scientist, mathematician or engineer, according to research by Microsoft.

 

Today the company are holding a special event to celebrate Global Girls in ICT day, according to Today FM.

 

To highlight the importance of women working in ICT roles and using ICT, they have an amazing panel of Irish female role models assembled in UCD to speak to an audience of 800 young Irish girls.

 

The organisers of the event hope to inspire girls to pursue careers in STEM areas, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

 

The panel includes teacher, blogger and Ph.D. candidate Sinead Burke, musician Elaine Mai and fashion designer Natalie B. Coleman.

 

 

Each one of the women will speak about how using technology has helped them pursue their careers.

 

Electronic musician Elaine Mai told Today FM: “ I use Ableton which is music production software and I also use mini-controllers which map what I want to do on the laptop. I also use technology to layer my vocals, technology is vital to me.”

 

Fashion designer Natalie B. Coleman says she uses IT everyday as part of her job: “It’s about traditional surface decorations but using technology to make them more contemporary.

 

It (technology) didn’t come naturally to me, but I have to use it every day. I’ve had to improve my skills.”

 

Vice President of Microsoft, Peggy Johnson and Managing Director of Microsoft Ireland, Cathriona Hallahan have also spoken about their experiences and careers, in the hopes of inspiring young Irish girls.

 

Peggy Johnson wants to shatter gender stereotypes around STEM careers, saying: “Young girls we need you. Microsoft needs you, the industry needs you, and we need more technical individuals so we hope to light a spark with these young girls today.”

 

 

Peggy, who was named as the world’s most powerful female engineer by Business Insider this year, also spoke about why she studied engineering and how it had opened doors for her.

 

According to a promotional video from Microsoft, the company will enable 10,000 Irish girls and young women to engage with technology in a positive way over the next two years.

 

Microsoft employees will volunteer in a number of programmes such as Coder Dojo to engage with girls and young women and teach them valuable ICT skills for the future. They will be offering programmes to girls of both primary and secondary school age.

 

We think this is a wonderful initiative and hopefully it will inspire young girls interested in STEM careers to pursue their interests. 

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