Ireland / Education

19 December 2023

The STEMAZING Academy was founded by Alexandra Knight from her desire to help other women and minorities thrive in a male-dominated industry whilst giving young people the every-day role models they need to see. Great strides have been made towards building equality in the workplace and yet, statistics show STEM still has a long way to go globally, with only 26% being women. Without a more diverse and inclusive STEM workforce we will continue missing out on the talent and ideas that are critical for inclusive innovation to problems that impact us all.

STEM is the combination of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, which actively promotes a young person's curiosity, creativity, and courage but not enough children have the opportunity to explore and engage in STEM activities. The STEMAZING Academy is a programme aims to provide a free programme of 4 - 6 live STEM sessions designed to engage and inspire children aged 7 - 9 years. All sessions are delivered by women in STEM to showcase female role models and support changing outdated perceptions of what a scientist, technologist or engineer looks like.

Margaret Rafter, Consultant Sales Engineer here at Mitsubishi Electric Europe Irish Branch was nominated to take part in the STEMAZING Academy. Throughout November and December, Margaret has been visiting Ms. O'Reilly's 4th class in Scoil Maelruans, Tallaght and getting the students to take part in a 45 minute activity using basic resources.

Margaret had this to say about STEMAZING Academy: “With women having such little representation in our STEM industries, how can we expect to inspire more young girls when we know you can’t be what you can’t see? It’s time to break this cycle and show all young people the range of incredible opportunities in STEM that are just as much for girls as for boys”. We are happy to support and encourage STEMAZING Academy and help show the world that STEM is for everyone.