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Guidance counsellors urged to join STEPS Engineers Week webinar to encourage next generation of female engineers

Thursday 3 March 2022

A guidance counsellor webinar which aims to inspire change in the classroom and encourage all students to consider a career in the engineering profession is one of the many highlights of STEPS Engineers Week 2022, commencing this Saturday, 5 March.

The guidance counsellor event on 8 March, taking place on International Women’s Day 2022, will feature presentations and inputs from Engineers Ireland STEPS Ambassador and Chartered Engineer, Orla Hartley and Engineers Ireland President and UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact, Professor Orla Feely.

The webinar is part of Engineers Ireland’s STEPS Engineers Week 2022 campaign, which will bring the creative and dynamic world of engineering to life until 11 March. Ireland’s largest celebration of the engineering profession aims to encourage young people, their families and teachers to explore the limitless opportunities a career in engineering can offer.

With a new Behaviour & Attitudes survey showing that 80% of the public see engineering as a rewarding career choice for young people, Professor Orla Feely, President of Engineers Ireland, commented: “Campaigns like STEPS Engineers Week are extremely important, not just for the sector, but to respond to Ireland’s future skills needs, and that is why this guidance counsellor event is so vitally relevant. Counsellors have such a pivotal role to play in helping to break down the barriers that have discouraged young girls from exploring the world of STEM in previous generations. Engineers Ireland wants to work with the education sector to create a clear pathway for progression for young ambitious girls to explore the exciting world of STEM and the vast opportunities a career in engineering can offer. Our schools’ guidance counsellors are central to shaping the career trajectories of our young students, and I believe they will find this webinar incredibly informative in terms of the remarkably diverse opportunities that now exist in the engineering sector for our aspiring engineering leaders of tomorrow.”

Caroline Spillane, Director General of Engineers Ireland, added: “At Engineers Ireland, we want to support the capacity of our future engineers to solve the biggest global challenges of their time.  Many of the next generation of innovators may not even be in the engineering field yet and may be just starting out their education journey in our primary and secondary schools. Through participation in STEPS Engineers Week, students can explore the limitless opportunities a career in the engineering sector can offer by engaging in fun activities, online events and much more.”

From Donegal to Cork and Dublin to Galway, engineering professionals and third-level institutions will engage with their communities during STEPS Engineers Week 2022 by hosting classroom visits and online workshops to showcase their profession to primary and secondary students in their locality, highlighting the amazing ways engineers in Ireland are pushing boundaries of innovation.

Throughout the seven-day celebration of the engineering profession in Ireland, young people can also look forward to interactive and engaging shows by some of Ireland’s leading STEM performers, with hundreds of teachers already signed up for exclusive engineering shows by Explorium’s Mark Langtry and Scientific Sue.

Engineering organisations across Ireland will also play a vital role in inspiring Ireland’s future engineering talent with AECOM, H&MV Engineering, PM Group, Walls Construction, Eli Lilly, Enerpower, JB Barry Transportation, Irish Water, Jons Civil Engineering, Keltia Ireland, Irish Manufacturing Research, BAM, DBFL Consulting Engineers, Murphy Geospatial, Colas Ireland, Electrical and Pump Services and SR Technics participating in the week-long campaign.

Now in its 16^th year STEPS Engineers Week is coordinated by Engineers Ireland's STEPS programme - funded by the Department of Education and industry leaders Arup, the EPA, ESB, Intel and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

To register for the free Guidance Counsellor webinar, which will also include contributions from Seán Conway, Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest, and Treasa Jones, Senior Structural Engineer at Arup, visit: https://www.engineersireland.ie/Schools/Engineers-Week/Secondary-Schools

Other highlights of STEPS Engineers Week 2022 include:

A series of in-person and online Family Fairs to inspire Ireland’s future engineers through interactive workshops and shows will take place in Dublin, Munster, Sligo and Galway on Saturday 5 and Sunday, 6 March.
The new ‘Engineer the Game of the Future’ primary and secondary school competition. In partnership with the Gaelic Players Association, students are encouraged to bring their problem-solving, creative and communication skills to the world of sport and to engineer a futuristic vision of the Gaelic Games.
Free engineering resources and activities, such as teacher challenge packs for primary and secondary school students, engineering trails and quizzes, which are available in both English and Irish. Primary school teacher and blogger, Múinteoir Valerie, has also created a new free resource for children with autism to get involved in the Week and to gain an insight into the world of engineering in a highly visual and accessible way.
Free-to-attend and on-demand virtual engineering shows for primary and secondary students by Explorium, Scientific Sue and other STEM professionals
Hear from engineers at all stages of their careers and working in a variety of disciplines at ‘Meet the Engineer’ events.  For example, students are invited to join Engineers Ireland’s Cork region and Young Engineers Society on 9 March to hear about the development of Ireland’s largest solar farm.
Free documentaries and video series, such as The Story of Water by Irish Water and Engineers Ireland’s Engineering Excellence Digital Series. Held in association with ESB, this six-part video series showcases Ireland’s talented engineers and some engineering projects completed in 2021. Students can also find out more about each engineer featured in the series by accessing the accompanying ‘Meet the Engineer’ summary, which highlights each engineer’s education and career journey and provides students with some top tips on why they too should consider a career in the profession.