REDUCING GENDER INEQUALITIES IN PERCEIVED COMPETENCE IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY THROUGH INTERVENTIONS WITH FEMALE ROLE MODELS
This project has the goal of eliminating sexist prejudices regarding women’s talent and their ability to access and thrive in science and technology, particularly in male-dominated fields such as physics, engineering, or computer science. Building upon our previous research in the HORIGESTEM project, which explored the importance of activities featuring female role models to foster scientific and technological vocations among adolescent girls, HORIGESTEM EIRE delves deeper into initiatives aimed at increasing girls’ interest in STEM disciplines across various contexts and explores how these experiences influence the academic and professional aspirations of young people.
HORIGESTEM EIRE is coordinated by GenTIC’s director, Milagros Sáinz, and carried out in collaboration with a research team from the School of Education at University College Cork to review and compare recent STEM programs based on female role models launched in both Ireland and Spain. With this international focus, HORIGESTEM EIRE encompasses three studies:
- The first study reviews initiatives launched in Ireland over the last ten years to encourage young people to pursue careers in science and technology, and compares them with Spanish programmes, paying particular attention to initiatives based on female role models and the role of the value-expectancy theory.
- The second study analyses the perceptions of STEM students in Ireland regarding the need for initiatives aimed at encouraging scientific and technological careers among girls, and how to avoid unintended consequences, such as boys feeling excluded and reacting against equal opportunities.
- In a third study, a scale will be developed to measure secondary school students’ perceptions of their mathematical competence, and this will be implemented with student groups in both Ireland and Spain.
This project is linked to a research stay by Milagros Sáinz hosted by Mark Prendergast, Professor of Mathematics Education at University College Cork.
Funded by: Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; grant for mobility stays in foreign higher education and research centers (Ref. PRX24/00489).
Start date: 01/06/2026 End date: 30/09/2026
Principal investigator: Milagros Sáinz, Director of the Gender and ICT group (UOC-TRANSIC).
Research team:
Milagros Sáinz Ibáñez (GenTIC, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya), Principal Investigator.
Mark Prendergast (Professor at the School of Education, University College Cork).
Máire Ní Ríordáin (Professor at the School of Education, University College Cork).
Orla Slattery (Graduate Studies Coordinator at the Tyndall National Institute, Cork, and PhD student at University College Cork).
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