I WISH – Inspiring Women in Stem

I WISH is a Cork initiative to inspire, encourage and motivate young secondary school female students to pursue careers in STEM. I WISH (Inspiring Women in Stem) is an annual event which features a conference and interactive exhibitions. The conference also features workshops, daily keynotes and engaging talks by women and men who have seen the opportunities for a great career in STEM. The ambition of the I WISH initiative is to increase female entrants to third-level courses in STEM by 30% by 2020.

The initiative was co-founded in 2014 by three Cork business women – Ruth Buckley, head of ICT and business services at Cork City Council, Gillian Keating, a partner at Ronan Daly Jermyn Solicitors and Caroline O’Driscoll, a partner KPMG and vice-chair of IT@Cork.

I WISH has grown over the past four years. When it started out, I WISH took 1,000 female students to Cork City Hall, now I WISH has grown nationally and for the past two years have brought the showcase to The RDS Dublin. To date I WISH has reached out to nearly 12,000 students and have a further ambitious goal to increase their student reach in 2019.

For more information see www.iwish.ie