Celebrating Women in Technology with Awards Ceremony by Group Member WITS
Published: Friday, November 16, 2018
Ireland celebrates Women in Technology this November with 2 Awards Ceremonies: The Women in IT Awards on the 21st of November and the Women in Tech Awards on November 22nd. Here's a little more info about WITS, careers in STEM and outline the upcoming awards and women in technology events this November.
About NWCI Group Member WITS Women in Technology and Science
WITS was set up to promote women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). STEM covers engineering from the infrastructure of bridges and roads to the biomedical technology that enables us to have stents in our hearts. It applies to the science we use to explore our cells and to reach the stars. The technology we use every day, our smart phones and our medicines are developed by the women and men working in STEM. It includes agriculture, computer science, energy, the environment, pharmaceuticals, and technology.
WITS works by advocating, acting and connecting women in STEM. It advocates and speaks for and with women in STEM, developing and improving policy and practice for us all. It campaigns for and with women in STEM to inform and educate about women’s participation in STEM. It also connects women in STEM at all levels, from students to professions, across all areas, from the life sciences to computing and engineering and in business and academia. As a voluntary, independent organisation WITS has been a member of the NWCI since 1990 and are glad to be part of the NWCI society wide network of women; being part of the NWCI community is important, it enables the group to play their part in the development of civil society.
A World of Opportunites with STEM
There are many careers and job opportunities in STEM. ranging from teaching and research to working in small start-up companies or the big technology companies that are part of our everyday lives such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. WITS members work in many different areas of STEM and love it. STEM qualifications gives the chance to see the world, to experience other cultures and to develop throughout their working lives. There is world-wide demand for graduates with qualifications in computer science, engineering, and many other areas of STEM. Among the WITS members in technology/computer science are Fardus Sultan, Vicky Twomey-Lee and Julie Hogan. Read about them here.
WITS members use the skills from their STEM degrees, those of critical thinking, asking questions and systematically developing answers and solving problems in a range of roles. They can be managers, researching a problem, developing a new product or working with students. However there are not enough of Women in STEM: 19 % of ICT specialists in 2016 are women, it was 30 % in 2004; 16 % of engineering professionals are women[ii]; 25 % of those working in Ireland’s STEM industries are women[iii]; 1% of full professors and 17% of CEOs[iv] This means that women in STEM are not always seen and heard. WITS has been working since 1990 to be a voice for women in STEM.
Celebrating Women in Technology This November women in technology are being celebrated in Ireland with a number of awards and events.
Women in IT Awards - 21 November 2018 Mansion House Dublin
WITS and the NWCI are media partners for the international Women in IT Awards on 21 November 2018. Tickets here. The awards will be held in Ireland, Silicon Valley, London, Asia and New York between November 2018 and May 2019. With just under 19% of Ireland’s tech sector being female, the Women in IT Awards programme has come to Ireland for the first time. Encouragingly Irish women in tech are the second-best paid in the world, however they still lag behind their male counterparts by almost a fifth when it comes to pay. Award categories include Advocate of the Year, Rising Star of the Year and Woman of the Year. There’s a great range of Irish judges from industry and academia and we look forward to the announcement of the awards on 21 November.
Women in Tech Awards - 22 November 2018 RDS, Dublin
The Women in Tech Awards is a celebration of women and diversity in the technology industry organised by the Dublin Tech Summit. Categories include the Disrupter Awards, the Data Scientist Award, and the Fintech Leader Award.
Women in Tech Dublin - 15 November
Women in Tech Dublin runs in the Dublin Convention Centre of 15 November 2018. It is a conference that aims to enable people and organisations to connect, learn and take action on gender diversity and inclusion. It provides content and networking opportunities for the tech sector and it’s great to see the number of Irish speakers.
On Friday 23 November Technology Ireland is making its initial #WomenInTech Company Initiative of the Year as part of the Technology Ireland Software Industry Awards. This award celebrates companies that have developed activities to increase the participation and/or support the development of women in technology.
European Institute of Gender Equality. (2018). ICT Specialists by Sex 2016.
[ii] Engineers Ireland. (2018). Engineering 2018 A Barometer of the Profession in Ireland. Dublin: Engineers Ireland.
[iii] Daly, E., Farrell, G., Grimson, J. and Smeaton, A. (eds). (2018). Fixing the leaky pipeline and retaining our talent. A summary report on a one-day event held at the Royal Irish Academy on 26 September 2017. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy and Engineers Ireland, p. 2.
[iv] Ibid.