L to R: Peter Hubbert, Director of Research Development & Innovation, Fidelity Investments; Lorna Martyn, Head of Corporate Services Technology, Fidelity Investments; Dr. Maura Coulter, Associate Dean for Research, DCU Institute of Education; and Dr. Aisling Twohill, DCU School of STEM Education, Innovation & Global Studies.
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Fidelity Investments Ireland and DCU join forces to address the STEM gender gap: only 1 in 3 students in third level STEM courses are female
Fidelity Investments Ireland today announced a collaboration with Dublin City University to tackle the persistent gender gap in STEM education and careers for women
Key takeaways:
- Women make up less than 25% of STEM professionals in Ireland
- Fidelity Ireland to invest €184,000 in research to address the gap
- Applications for Fidelity’s Women in STEM Scholarship are now open
Dublin — Research currently shows women make up less than 25% of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) professionals in Ireland. In an effort to better understand the challenge and generate actionable insights, Fidelity Investments Ireland today announced a collaboration with Dublin City University to tackle the persistent gender gap in STEM education and careers for women.
Women make up 54.8% of the overall higher education population in Ireland, yet their representation in STEM and ICT disciplines remains disproportionately low. Just one in three students enrolled in STEM courses at third level are female. In ICT specifically, nearly three-quarters of students are male (74.9%), with women accounting for only 24.6%, according to the Higher Education Authority’s 2023/2024 data.
The gender gap is evident even earlier in the education pipeline: in 2023, only 29% of Leaving Certificate Physics students are girls, with similarly low figures in Computer Science (21%), Technology (17%) and even lower in Engineering (9%), according to the CSO.
Through a two-year research project facilitated by DCU Educational Trust, Fidelity Ireland and DCU’s Institute of Education will uncover the barriers and opportunities that influence females' engagement with STEM subjects in schools. Fidelity Ireland is investing €184,000 in this initiative, highlighting the importance of gaining insights that can help close the gap in STEM education uptake and driving interest in STEM courses at third level.
Building on its ongoing Women in STEM Scholarship Fund with DCU, this new research collaboration represents the next step in Fidelity Ireland’s efforts to drive lasting change. The scholarship fund, delivered in collaboration with DCU’s Faculty of Engineering and Computing, DCU Sport, and the DCU Access Programme, offers a wide range of financial and developmental supports designed to inspire and enable more young women from diverse backgrounds to pursue studies and careers in STEM. Applications for the Women in STEM Scholarship are now open to eligible undergraduate students in DCU School of Computing, with a deadline of October 24th.
Lorna Martyn, Head of Corporate Services Technology at Fidelity Investments, said: “By engaging in this research, and through our Scholarship programme, we aim to create a future where more women can thrive in STEM careers, ensuring Ireland remains a hub for innovation and talent. Our common goal is to better understand the interventions that may positively impact the participation gap in STEM education and careers. Collaborations with institutions like DCU demonstrate the power of industry and academia working together to drive systemic change.”
Through this research collaboration, Fidelity Ireland and DCU will investigate why girls are not sustaining participation in STEM at senior cycle and beyond, identifying actionable recommendations to strengthen engagement and outcomes.
“At DCU, as part of our mission to transform lives and societies, we are committed to ensuring every student has the opportunity to achieve their potential within the STEM disciplines,” said Dr Aisling Twohill at DCU Institute of Education. “Through this important collaboration with Fidelity Investments Ireland, we can deepen our understanding of the barriers girls and young women face, and identify solutions that empower more girls to thrive in STEM subjects and careers. This collaboration brings together world-class research and industry leadership to help close the gender gap and create a more equal future for innovation in Ireland and beyond.”
The two-phase study will combine an assessment of the state-of-the-art in the field of sustaining engagement in STEM for all children, with interviews, surveys, and focus groups involving students, parents, teachers, and professionals who once faced similar choices. Findings will inform national policy and classroom practice, feed into global research on effective interventions and strengthening the pipeline of female talent into higher education and industry.
About Fidelity Investments Ireland
Fidelity’s mission is to strengthen the financial well-being of our customers and deliver better outcomes for the clients and businesses we serve. Fidelity’s strength comes from the scale of our diversified, market-leading financial services businesses that serve individuals, families, employers, wealth management firms, and institutions. With assets under administration of $16.4 trillion, including discretionary assets of $6.4 trillion as of June 30, 2025, we focus on meeting the unique needs of a broad and growing customer base. Privately held for 79 years, Fidelity employs more than 78,000 associates across the United States, Ireland, and India.
In 1996, Fidelity created its first global footprint in Ireland. Our work at Fidelity Ireland is critical to the global organisation, delivering essential technology, operations and support services. Since our inception in Ireland, we've persistently innovated. We've worked hard to create an energised and vibrant workplace, filled with opportunity. We're home to a welcoming, multi-cultural team of creative thinkers — working hand-in-hand with our colleagues in the U.S., Europe and India. Fidelity Investments Ireland currently employs more than 2,000 associates in the region.
For more information about Fidelity Ireland, visit https://jobs.fidelity.com/ie/
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For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit https://www.fidelity.com/about-fidelity/our-company
About Dublin City University
Dublin City University (DCU) is a leading innovative European University with a mission to ‘transform lives and societies.’ DCU ranks as one of the world’s Top 400 Universities (THE) and is proud to be Ireland’s No. 1 Young University. The University is known for the ‘transformative student experience’ it offers, and is also recognised for its impact in addressing global challenges in collaboration with national and international stakeholders.
About DCU Educational Trust
DCU Educational Trust is a registered charity (CHY 8960) established in 1988 to advance the development of Dublin City University. DCU Educational Trust’s mission today is to develop relationships that support DCU in its mission to transform lives and societies.
