The latest Women in Stem Summit brought a packed agenda to a packed room.
Greeting everyone in Croke Park on Thursday, 13th March, the summit chairwoman Sonya Lennon, TV presenter, designer, founder and social entrepreneur, promised an extraordinary day with speakers, panelists and leaders attending.
“There’s so much energy, knowledge, and creativity in the room. We want you to harness it and be part of it,” she stated. “We are asking challenging and fundamental questions about Steam [which includes arts in the mix], about how we engage with women in our society and our economy.”
Her ending statement: “It’s not just about women, it’s about all of us.” would echo throughout the day’s talks and discussions.
Carrying on Lennon’s energy was the first speaker, Lucy Ryan, author and founding director of Mindspring Consultancy, who delivered the international keynote address.
Focusing on professional women between 45 and 70 years old and how they could be an organisation’s secret weapon, she revealed three reasons why this demographic is exiting working life: sexism, midlife collision and revolt by exiting the system.
“We must make it attractive to retain and develop our senior women with creative pathways,” she explained. “Don’t let everyone revolt against the system; allow them to revolt within it and then we will all have beautiful, diverse workplaces where we see those senior figures rise.”
With that rallying call, it was time for the first panel session, a keynote discussion on leading a culture of diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) awareness in business.
Anne-Marie Tierney Le-Roux, senior vice president global enterprise technology of IDA Ireland; Emma Callinan, director of commercialisation at Enterprise Ireland; Peter Clifford, head of strategy at Research Ireland; and Sinead Kilkelly, executive director, people and sustainability at ESB, participated in this discussion.
There are reasons to be optimistic. Callinan said Ireland was doing well in gender parity but warned that this was not a reason to be complacent.
“We need to be more creative, not copying but being more innovative in policies and developing systems that allow for that greater gender parity,” she added. “That will come through our political system, and our policy decision-makers have that power.”
When asked what commitment they would like to see the Irish government give women in Stem, Kilkelly suggested policy change in areas like parental leave and our education system.
“Change comes from the home,” she said. “When parenthood has an inherent bias, we have an immediate disadvantage so I’d like to see a change in leaving entitlements.”
The last morning’s keynote was on Steam and the missing link in early childhood education. Lorna Martyn, Ireland regional chair and senior vice president of technology for Fidelity Investments, said there was a real opportunity to rethink how we foster creativity at all levels.
“If we can break down the challenge, it’s about how we nurture creativity because that is something we need in every walk of life. Can we put the required infrastructure in place?,” she stated.
“The missing link is the need to reframe the problems and the need for investment, so we must be brave and take that next step.”
This tied in with the next panel discussion on educating young women and girls on jobs that don’t exist yet in the workforce. This featured Aoife D’Arcy, trainer at Technology Ireland Digital Skillnet and chief executive of Krisolis, Dr Deirdre Lillis, president of Technological University Dublin, Fiona Croke, associate director of global talent acquisition at MSD Ireland, Susan Carroll, teacher at Loreto College.
When asked where the problem is with telling the story of Stem to encourage women and girls to pursue it, D’Arcy said we’re selling it wrong
“Girls are interested in different things to boys; they want to deal with people and be more innovative and creative,” she explained. “We have to paint Stem as a career [featuring the things] they love.”
Croke said that while Ireland had an excellent level of education, not everyone took the traditional route into Stem via third level, and there were many other ways for women and young girls to enter.
“It’s thinking about those blind spots they may face as it’s not always a straight path to success. Particularly in Stem where the rewards are so empowering. The careers that people have are incredible, and the impact in healthcare you can have is so powerful.”
The last early morning session featured a presentation from Marie Laffey, head of the career development centre at the University of Galway. She discussed futureproofing yourself as you navigate your career path and stated three pillars of career self-agency: self-awareness, flexibility and strategic networking.
She spoke about career agility and the importance of taking ownership, embracing lifelong learning and having the confidence to make those decisions.
“Your future is already taking shape,” she said. “We see our graduates saying we don’t know what to do yet, but know what your strengths are and what you need to work on.
“Careers are not linear; try different things and drive your own development.”
Before the coffee break, the room gave a standing ovation to students from Sacred Heart secondary school in Tullamore, Co Offaly, who are the first all-female team to represent Ireland in the VEX Robotics World Championship in Austin Texas this May.
Breaking barriers and supercharging equity
After morning coffee and networking, the audience split into three streams covering various areas.
Stream one examined the drive towards achieving a healthier and more equable world and was chaired by Elaine Burke, a sci-tech journalist, editor and broadcaster.
The keynote address of this stream was delivered by Mary O’Connor, chief information officer at ESB, who spoke about the power of diversity in leading the drive to net zero.
Following this was a presentation on championing inclusivity, mentorship, and leadership development by Priya Mishra, director of technology at Carelon Global Solutions Ireland.
Then there was a panel discussion on paving the way for innovation in healthcare, which was discussed by Dr Eimear Gleeson, commercial lead at the UCC-based FemmeBiome project; Dr Mary Coghlan, partner and healthcare AI and data lead for EY Ireland; Lucy Nugent, chief executive of Children’s Health Ireland; and Sarah Jane O’Dwyer, founder and chief executive of IntuVu Health.
This stream concluded with a spotlight on ‘ones to watch’ for the future, with three women giving individual presentations on their areas of expertise.
Dr Brooke Tornifoglio, assistant professor in biomedical engineering at Trinity College Dublin, covered the advancement in women’s healthcare, Aoife Lynch, able/engine room artificer at the Irish Defence Forces, spoke about a navy career as a woman in Stem, and Ruth D’Alton, human resources director, looked at diversity and inclusion in a personal capacity.
Stream two shone a light on breaking barriers in financial services and was chaired by Jean O’Donnell, chairwoman of Women in Technology & Science (WITS).
It began with an international keynote address on cybersecurity leadership delivered by Lynn Dohm, executive director for Women in Cyber Security (WiCyS).
After this, there was a panel discussion on how AI can revolutionise the financial sector. The panel featured Adebola Olomo, ambassador for Women in AI Ireland; Anna Gozdalik-Coakley, partner in AI and data technology and financial services AI leader at EY; Jennifer Ward, head of enterprise IT services at PTSB; and Mini Burgula, AI & CloudNative solutions lead at HCLTech.
This stream also concluded by shining a spotlight on women leaders and role models who spoke about their areas of expertise. Sadaf Zaheer, senior data scientist of enterprise services at ESB, spoke about AI leadership, which can reduce barriers and enable net zero.
Ciara Garvan, founder of WorkJuggle.com, spoke about cutting through the noise that suggests diversity and inclusion are over. Hannah McMenamin, 2nd lieutenant at the Irish Defence Forces, gave an overview of her journey in the Irish Air Corps from school leaver to pilot.
The third stream looked at putting the Steam into Stem and was chaired by Lennon.
The keynote for this stream began with Lynn Ruane, independent senator in Seanad Éireann, speaking about art as power.
This led to a panel discussion with participants including Brenda Delaney, vice president of UX design at Fidelity Investments, Dr Jane O’Hanlon, former head of education at Poetry Ireland, Dr Jessica Foley, lecturer at the Department of Design and Visual Arts in IADT, and Tania Banotti, director of Creative Ireland.
Next up was a spotlight on fenders, fashion, and fine arts, with Ciara Higgins of Loreto High School Beaufort, reciting the poem Mushrooms by Sylvia Plath.
Next Jay Boland, musician & co-founder at Always Press Record and band member of Kodaline, spoke about the intersection between art and technology. The stream finished up with a fashion showcase with Junk Kouture, where Sarah Lane, MC, went through the ways the competition showcases sustainability in fashion.
‘We will rise, and we will never stop’
Once lunch had concluded, Lennon welcomed everyone back to the main stage and brought on Marie Sheridan, somatic therapist and movement facilitator, to get the whole room moving.
Lennon joked afterwards that you never have to ask women twice to dance, before introducing the afternoon keynote address with Siki Giunta, EVP and head of cloud-native CoE at HCLTech.
Dispensing words of wisdom earned through years of experience, she summed up her advice in three parts: have a dream, know you have to do the work to achieve that, and find the people who will support you in that.
Alongside that, she had a strong message about work-life balance.
“There are people that talk about balancing work and life, and that’s an impossible expectation,” she said. “Take that expectation and throw it away. The word I use is integrate. You have to bring [elements in your life] together and know how they integrate.”
If we can break down the challenge, it’s about how we nurture creativity because that is something we need in every walk of life
Up next was the panel discussion looking at ways to drive towards a more diverse and inclusive world.
This featured Andrea Dermody, diversity and inclusion expert and programme director of Balance for Better Business, Bronagh Riordan, AI & data partner for EY, Dr Salome Mbugua, chief executive of AkiDwA, the Migrant Women’s Network in Ireland, and Kieva Whitty-Ryan, co-secretary of Proud to Work for Ireland Network.
Riordan mentioned the importance of seeking sponsorship, mentorship, and coaching to help one advance but also highlighted the role bias can play.
“Historically, men are lauded for their potential and women for their past experiences,” she said. “That can be difficult [to work against], so you should support each level of the person as they come through the career and support those next-level advancements.”
Dr Mbugua added that to get there, people needed to see what inclusiveness meant and how it could benefit the workforce. While there were challenges to be addressed, the motivation was that “people who are more comfortable perform closer to their maximum.”
Before the event concluded, Freshta Ibrahimi, mountaineer, women’s rights advocate, and founder and leader of the Unstoppable Project, delivered the locknote address on leading with hope and resilience.
Speaking about the current regime in Afghanistan, where women have had their freedoms curtailed living under Taliban rule, she ended her talk with a call to solidarity.
“When we come together, we’re truly unstoppable,” she said. “As I prepare to climb Mount Everest, I carry not just my dreams but the dreams of every girl who was told they were not enough. My message is simple: women belong in the mountains, women belong in leadership, women belong free.
“We will climb, we will rise, and we will never stop.”
Lennon concluded the summit by saying Ibrahimi’s talk was a “reminder of the power we have, the voice we have and the influence we have.” Attendees left with much food for thought and an energy for change.