Maynooth University STEM Passport for Inclusion initiative goes national

Two-year pilot engaged 1,250 students

Life

Maynooth University with Microsoft Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and the Dept of Education, have announced the national expansion of the STEM Passport for Inclusion initiative which will see the initiative expand nationwide and engage a further 5,000 students.

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.

Speaking about the plans to extend STEM Passport for Inclusion, Dr Katriona O’Sullivan, Digital Skills Lecturer at Maynooth University, said: “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.”

Microsoft is the STEM Passport for Inclusion’s lead industry partner, having contributed €600,000 in match funding to date. In addition, Microsoft’s Dream Space education team co-designed the Level 6-accredited (NFQ) STEM Passport module and has supported the delivery of the STEM Passport curriculum to participating students in Dream Space venues in both Dublin and Belfast. 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.

The national roll-out of the STEM Passport for Inclusion programme (2023-2025), which is funded by Microsoft, Science Foundation Ireland, and the Department of Education, will see participants graduate from partner Universities – Atlantic Technological University, Munster Technological University and Maynooth University.

TechCentral Reporters

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