Sabina Higgins Speech at Shared Learning Day
O'Brian Centre for Science, UCD, Wednesday 11th December 2019
t is a great pleasure to join you all for this UCD/SFI Shared Learning Day.
The focus of today is a greatly important one, addressing the significant and worrying gender gap that persists in the field of science, a field in which women remain disturbingly underrepresented, both here in Ireland and in countries across the globe.
I am delighted to know that the girls involved in DEIS Schools: Changing Attitudes/Impacting Futures in STEM project have been engaged in exploring the many inspiring role models who have paved, and continue to pave, the way for a new generation of women who have so much to offer in the area of science and scientific research.
I have no doubt that exploration was greatly revelatory, emphasising the great disservice we do to both our own and our global society when we fail to encourage and support the many talented, gifted and creative females who have so much to offer towards the creation of a better future for all who share this fragile planet.
We know that here in Ireland the gender gap in the field of science begins in our schools where significantly fewer girls than boys choose science subjects for their leaving certificate. For example, the number of boys who study Leaving Cert physics outnumbers girls by three to one. This imbalance is, of course, carried forward into our workplaces where just one quarter of the 120,000 people working in jobs using Stem in Ireland are women.
These figures should, and must, cause us concern. As a society we are being denied the intellectual contribution of intelligent and innovative women and also of the many advantages gender diversity in scientific research has to offer.
It is greatly uplifting, therefore, to come here today and witness the tangible will of so many young females to engage in dismantling any false barriers that have been placed between women and the pursuit of STEM careers. That you come from DEIS schools, which are particularly under represented in STEM in Ireland, is greatly important, making you great role models for other students of DEIS schools and I thank you for that.
I am particularly interested in the creative and innovative way you have undertaken this challenge, using philosophy and storytelling to provide a more personalised understanding of the stories of the pioneering women who have surmounted often severe societal restraints in their pursuit of scientific exploration.
They were, as I am sure you have discovered women of independent thought, a critical turn of mind, a will to question the status quo, an ethical concern with the community and the planet – in other words citizens with the drive and vision to craft a better and more equal world.
How can we truly create an equal world, however, If women are not effectively and fairly, represented in the various fields of scientific research. Many, many case studies have demonstrated the importance of considering gender in research, and of how such consideration can lead to better and safer outcomes and products across a wide range of fields.
Currently research outcomes can often be worse for women than for men because bias in knowledge means bias in research applications, and in areas such as medical advancement. How, for instance, can we ensure that the different ways in which a heart attack affects men and women is taken into account when developing treatments and medication, if research systems are dominated by men? How can we ensure that safe levels of exposure to toxins are decided based on the different ways they are absorbed by men and women?
How can we ensure that the world is a place that is equally safe and accommodating for its male and female members?
We simply cannot, and questions such as these show that it is not just desirable that more women become involved in STEM careers and scientific research, it is absolutely essential.
The DEIS Schools: Changing Attitudes/Impacting Futures in STEM project is therefore a vital tool in the creation of a fairer and more equal society. The work you are doing, and the participation of the schools represented here today, represent a significant step forward towards the crafting of a better future for women here in Ireland and across the globe.
I thank you for that work and I wish you every success now and into the future.