#AccelerateAction, this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) theme, is a global call to recognise strategies, resources, and actions that drive women’s progress and to actively support their implementation. IWD remains an important opportunity for amplifying the focus on gender equality.
In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8th, Tyndall is proud to spotlight Orla Slattery, our Graduate Studies Coordinator. As well as working at Tyndall, Orla will also be graduating with her PhD from the School of Education, UCC this coming June. Her research focuses on ‘Navigating a Male-Dominated Domain: Experiences of Female STEM Students in Higher Education in Ireland.’
What is your current role?
We have over 175 graduate students and more than 60 research supervisors at Tyndall. My role is to support our students and their supervisors to ensure that we offer the highest quality of education to our research students. This includes the development and implementation of initiatives focused on research student excellence, doctoral training, and student well-being.
Can you give us more insight into your PhD?
There is a vast wealth of research concentrated on the STEM gender gap. However, much of this research is focussed on why women don’t choose STEM, while the perspectives of women who do choose STEM is less well understood. My PhD research sought to address this gap in existing knowledge through qualitative investigation of the experiences of female students studying STEM in Higher Education in Ireland.
Did you have a role model who influenced your career and academic choices?
My parents have always been my biggest role models. They fostered my interests and helped me believe that anything was possible. From a young age, they encouraged my sense of curiosity and helped me see engineering as a natural career choice for me. Additionally, the friends I’ve had since my undergraduate days have been incredible role models in the field of STEM. Their achievements, determination, and constant support continue to inspire me and push me to grow.
What could be done to support women in STEM and #AccerateAction?
We need to listen more to the voices of students currently pursuing STEM careers, from undergraduate to postdoctoral level and beyond. These are the women who have most recently overcome barriers to STEM participation, and their experiences provide invaluable insights on how best to target accelerated actions.
Stereotypical beliefs continue to undermine women at all stages of their careers. Unconscious bias training and awareness campaigns for all students and staff in HEIs would provide a beneficial starting point in addressing the challenges faced by women.
A closer examination of the structural and cultural changes required to enable women in STEM to participate on a level playing field would benefit everyone.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Don’t worry, keep going, relish every minute and pay no heed to detractors!
