When Aislinn McBride was growing up she was not exactly tech savvy – her family didn’t even own a computer – but one day at school the idea of a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) came into sharp focus.
A past pupil had returned to talk to Aislinn’s class about her life as a technical architect. It was a moment that Aislinn, then 14 years old, describes as “pivotal”. If the past pupil could do it, so could she. “She had been to my school and had taken the same studies that I was doing,” Aislinn says. “From that moment, I chose to study computer science at A-level. I wanted to be a technical architect too.”
Aislinn is now chief technical officer at Kainos, a software company based in Belfast, where she delivers solutions to customers across commercial, health and public sectors. Many of her colleagues are also women.
“There are plenty of people to take inspiration from here: advocates, mentors and role models,” she says. Northern Ireland punches above its weight when it comes to visible role female role models within STEM professions. They include: Professor Helen McCarthy, the NI Executive’s first chief scientific and technology adviser; Jayne Brady, a former engineer and current head of NI Civil Service, and Gillian Gregg, head of regional engagement at Royal Academy of Engineering.
Female role models are “absolutely critical” in attracting more women to science and technology roles – a traditionally male-dominated industry – says Emer Murnaghan, innovation director at Graham Civil Engineering, who is the chair of the Institute of Civil Engineers Northern Ireland (ICE).
“We’ve got strong, competent, confident role models in our industry – women in engineering, for example, who are prominent and well-known – but we need to see more.”
Like Kainos, Almac Group – a pharmaceutical and biotechnology organisation headquartered in Craigavon – is leading the way for female diversity in STEM. “Almac has female representation at VP and executive level – amazing and inspirational female leaders.
In terms of our demographics, we buck the trend,” says Dr Frances Weldon, Associate Director of STEM Outreach at Almac. According to Frances, 50% of the company’s new hires in 2024 were female. “Across our global workforce of over 7,500 employees, 48% are female. Across our apprentices – engineering, computing, business management, business support roles and scientific roles – 56% are female.”
Kainos and Almac alike highlight the importance of visible female role models in STEM professions, particular at executive level. “Northern Ireland has a lot of high profile, strong women in senior roles in the public and the private sectors,” says Mary McKenna, a technology entrepreneur and angel investor who runs the SheGenerate and AwakenAngels initiatives for women. “We even have an astronaut,” she says, referring to Rosemary Coogan (who completed her training with the European Space Agency in 2024).
However, these examples are the exception rather than the norm. Despite Northern Ireland’s thriving STEM space, underrepresentation of women is an ongoing concern. Women only make up 21% of the total STEM workforce, according to Dr Frances Weldon. Mary McKenna agrees. “Some companies push forward with policies that are more flexible but others don’t. They carry on as they are because they have no shortage of people applying to work there. They don’t modernise their approach to work.”
In spite of this gender gridlock, initiatives to encourage women in STEM occur across Northern Ireland on a regular basis. In October 2024 two major events took place: Women in STEM and Kainos Power Women Leadership Event. Women in Business NI recently took place at the Mandela Hall and a Women in STEM Summit is to be held at Dublin’s Croke Park in 2025. The business case for including women in the workplace is clear, argues Bryan Keating, a seasoned angel investor who chaired the Northern Ireland Women in STEM committee that was established in 2020: “Women bring diversity. If you don’t have women in your STEM company you’re behind the ball.”
Aislinn McBride cites evidence that shows “whenever you have females in senior positions, organisations are more profitable, innovative and their longer term success is higher. It’s not about ticking boxes. This is a profitability business case with bottom line impact. Females bring skills in collaboration and communication. When you are deliberately diverse, your entire organisation thinks differently: in a more open minded and inclusive way.” Emer Murnaghan concurs. “People from different backgrounds and different perspectives on life, in a diverse and inclusive workforce, deliver better infrastructure.”
But problematic perceptions of women in STEM are instilled from an early age. “All that stuff seeps into girls’ psyches as early as seven and it’s all subliminal,” Bryan Keating says. “A lot of it is societal systemic impediments that are put in front of girls. There is no scientific evidence that the competency of girls in mathematics and science is any less than boys. It’s all about perception: unconscious and conscious bias.”
Parental as well as educational encouragement is essential, believes Emer Murnaghan. As a child of 11 or 12 her mother insisted she take up science. Without this encouragement? “I would probably be in a different profession now”. In 2014, Emer was awarded an OBE for services to civil engineering and today she is “the proud mother of a chartered female civil engineer.”
Progressive STEM companies in Northern Ireland are working hard to change perceptions around women in STEM at all levels of education. Kainos, for example, have a large outreach programme. “Last year, we reached over a thousand young people who were thinking about careers in technology. We deliberately put females in front of them to help them see the variety that this profession can offer,” Aislinn McBride says.
Dr Frances Weldon, in her role at Almac, is on a mission to inspire pupils to consider STEM subjects. “As a female who worked in one of Almac’s analytical departments for 12 years, I’m passionate about being a positive role model for young women and girls. I want to help them build confidence in themselves so they can achieve whatever they set their sights on.” Frances designs and delivers initiatives from primary through to post-primary school and further and higher education. “We’re blessed at Almac to have female scientists, engineers and IT specialists that can be role models for the pupils and students.”
It is not only girls of school age who need encouragement. Mary McKenna says it is commonplace for women to check out of high earning, high pressure STEM-related jobs, in order to have a family. Government policies around childcare, flexible working and upskilling, have eased pressures but company policies play a big part in encouraging women remain in employment. Government has introduced other proactive measures. The Enthuse Partnership, funded by the Department of Economy, seeks to empower schools to address women in STEM. Software NI and the SistersIN Leadership Programme, which helps sixth form girls broaden their career perspectives, also contribute.
But more can still be done, believes Mary McKenna.“If the Government was serious about solving this, they would take out a national TV campaign in Northern Ireland explaining to people that if their children went for a career in STEM, they are likely to earn more money and have a series of rewarding careers open to them in Northern Ireland.”
The bottom line is that a career in STEM is abundant in opportunity. “No matter where you are in the globe today, technology is in every organisation and the opportunities are phenomenal,” Aislinn McBride says. “We have seen a huge surge in the development of AI, which can change society and the way we work and live. There’s no reason why any woman cannot be as good as anybody else in this industry.” Bryan Keating believes that industries and policy makers, parents and teachers, need to enthuse children about the rich possibilities of a career in STEM. “Girls need to realise they can be an astronaut, they can be an engineer who builds bridges – they can be anything they want to be.”