Press release

1 Feb 2022 Dublin, IE

EY Ireland aims to inspire more girls and young women to pursue a career in STEM with free mobile app

Dublin, 01 February 2022: EY Ireland has today announced the launch of the EY STEM App which will be rolled out across the Republic of Ireland, following a successful pilot in the US and India.

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EY Ireland

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EY Ireland, a leading global professional services organisation providing assurance, tax, audit, strategy and transactions and consulting services.

  • Ireland is among seven countries launching the EY STEM App aimed at inspiring girls aged 13 to 18 to pursue STEM careers
  • EY Ireland is hoping to reach at least 5,000 girls and young women in 2022 through the newly launched app
  • The EY STEM App uses gamified learning and content to nurture confidence and competence in STEM
  • The EY STEM App includes a built-in rewards feature ranging from vouchers, to donations, as well as access to opportunities to learn along side EY Ireland’s technology team

Dublin, 01 February 2022: EY Ireland has today announced the launch of the EY STEM App which will be rolled out across the Republic of Ireland, following a successful pilot in the US and India. Through the app, which is aimed at girls aged between 13-18 years, EY Ireland is hoping to reach and inspire at least 5,000 young women throughout Ireland to pursue STEM careers across science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Ireland is the first of seven new countries to launch the EY STEM App, with six other countries including Canada, the UK, UAE, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand, following suit throughout 2022.

The EY STEM App was developed by EY in collaboration with SkillsVR, an organisation dedicated to developing potential talent through immersive learning. It features modules and activities focused on science, such as climate change or space exploration; technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printing or blockchain; the future of work and skills that may be required for future, yet-to-be-defined jobs.

Helena O’Dwyer, EY Ireland Associate Partner and Head of Strategy, EY-Parthenon, says:

Advancing girls’ skills and interests in STEM is vital to closing the gender gap in technology. It’s crucial that women and girls have the opportunity to realise their full potential as leaders and change-makers in a world increasingly enabled by technology. We’re proud  to be rolling out this app  here in Ireland as we  think it has the real potential to  make STEM learning more accessible and rewarding for thousands of  girls. The CSO recently reported that only 25% of roles in STEM are performed by women in Ireland so the development and rollout of this app is not only incredibly timely but also crucial when skills shortages have never been more prolific and competition for talent has never been more fierce

Gamified content and incentivized learning 

The free-to-use app connects girls with a wide range of learning activities from exploring new technologies, to learning how design thinking can help solve some of the world’s toughest challenges. Supported by inspirational stories of pioneering women, the app aims to not only nurture confidence and competence in STEM, but also the development of capabilities such as critical thinking and problem-solving, creativity and systems thinking, and social skills and teamwork.

Hundreds of individual activities — each broken into bite-size steps, such as watching a video, answering thought-provoking questions or carrying out an experiment — support self-directed learning that empowers girls to choose what, how and when they learn to build a real sense of accomplishment and confidence with the completion of each step.

Girls are also encouraged to take real-life actions beyond the phone app, such as interviewing members of their community, applying design thinking to solve community problems and conducting experiments, such as building a solar oven with household items.

As they complete more activities on the app, girls become eligible to receive a range of incentives, including One4All Vouchers, options to donate to their favourite charities and the opportunity to engage in training programmes with EY Ireland’s technology and data analytics teams. This will include virtual and in-person access to the world class EY wavespace™ innovation centre in Dublin.

Eoin O’Reilly, EY Ireland Partner and Head of Data Analytics added, The EY STEM App is a fantastic programme to support young girls and foster their interests in STEM subjects. The ability to pique the interest of girls at a young age, during the height of their education, is undoubtedly the best way to mobilise interest in a traditionally under-represented career path among women. I hope the EY STEM App will help girls of all ages embrace careers in STEM, and as the programme grows I hope it continues to help girls in Ireland and around the world navigate real-world challenges. There has never been a more important time to encourage more women to build their careers in STEM, especially given the crucial role they play, and will continue to play, in the development and future growth of our economy here in Ireland.”

The EY STEM App is sponsored by the EY Women in Technology programme, which was formed to create an inclusive culture to successfully harness technology’s potential to truly transform society. Activities on the app were also developed in collaboration with some of the world´s most respected non-profit and academic institutions, including the UN and World Economic Forum. In addition, all activities are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals they directly impact, allowing girls to earn Global Goals digital badges as they progress.

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Additional information

A successful pilot

The EY Stem App pilot in New Delhi, Seattle and Atlanta involved more than 50 schools and non-profits, with 91,000 activity steps completed, 600 rewards won and around $10,000 donated to charities. Nearly 1 million minutes of “real-life actions” were taken by girls to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The pilot also received recognition from the Nobel Prize Summit, the UN Global Compact on Gender Equality, the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation, the International Center for Research on Women and the UN SDG Festival.

Notes to editors

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

EY refers to the global organisation, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

This news release has been issued by EYGM Limited, a member of the global EY organization that also does not provide any services to clients.

About the EY Women in Technology movement

The EY Women in Technology movement was formed to create an inclusive culture to successfully harness technology’s potential to truly transform society. EY supports women in tech through education by investing in educational products and programs that drive awareness and participation that encourages girls and women to enter and remain in STEM fields of study and careers.

About EY Women. Fast Forward

Women. Fast forward seeks to empower a diverse workforce by enabling women and girls to reach their potential through education, mentorship, innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities. Creating a workforce that will support the closing of the gender gap and nurture an environment where everyone is able to become architects of the transformative age.

About SkillsVR

SkillsVR develops organizational potential through immersive learning, verified with proof-of-impact analytics and micro credentials, that builds an individual’s confidence, competence, and resilience in safer, smarter, and faster ways.

For more key insights about STEM, visit ey.com/ie/STEM.