Eilish McLoughlin and Deirdre Butler met with interns and hosts participating in the 2022 STEM Teacher Internship (STInt) programme on 30th March2022. The annual ‘Meet & Greet’ event was attended by the 61 interns that will complete 12-week paid internships in STEM roles in 30 leading organisations during summer 2022. The interns will work across a range of contexts this summer including fully remote, onsite and hybrid.

Speakers at the event included DCU Chancellor, Brid Horan, Dean of DCU Institute of Education Professor Anne Looney, Deputy Dean DCU Faculty of Science & Health, Brien Nolan, as well as two STInt alumni, Niamh O’Malley (Primary teacher) and Michael Noonan (Post-Primary teacher) who spoke about the influence taking part in STInt has had on their classroom practice.

To date, the programme has placed 175 pre-service and in-service STEM teachers in hands-on roles in 40 of Ireland’s leading companies. The 2022 host organisations are AbbVie, Accenture, AIB, Alexion, APC & VLE Therapeutics, Astellas, Bank of Ireland, Boston Scientific, Citi Bank, Cúram, Deloitte, DIAS Dunsink Observatory, Ericsson, ESB, EY, Fidelity Investments, IBM, Intel, Irish Water, Jabil, Microsoft, MSD, PwC, Simply Blue Group, SSE Airtricity, Stryker, VistaMilk, Vodafone and Xilinx.

The 2022 programme has expanded this year to include pre-service teachers from six universities – Dublin City University, University College Dublin, The National University of Ireland, Maynooth, The National University of Ireland, Galway, University College Cork and University of Limerick.

In 2016, Dublin City University together with Accenture and the 30% Club launched the pilot internship programme aimed at highlighting the careers available to pre-service STEM teachers as well as giving them hands-on experience of STEM careers in a corporate environment. The programme is led by STEM Education academics Associate Professor Eilish McLoughlin and Professor Deirdre Butler from DCU’s CASTeL research centre. Through the support of strategic partners, 30% Club, Connecting Women in Technology (CWIT) group and Science Foundation Ireland, the programme has been expanded to include host organisations across a range of industrial sectors including technology, pharma, medical devices, utilities, financial and professional services.

Brid Horan, DCU Chancellor, said

“The STEM Internship shows interns the opportunities available to those with STEM skills and that these are for both young women and men.  DCU took the lead in 2016 together with Accenture and the 30% Club, reflecting their commitment to their students, their understanding of the impact inspiring teachers have on the next generation and DCU’s engagement with enterprise.

I’m delighted STInt has thrived and that DCU is now partnering with other universities, with CWIT and SFI as well as the 30% Club, and that so many businesses in STEM sectors and beyond are playing their part by providing internship opportunities.”