Jim Breen – VP Project Lead March 8, 2017

Jim Breen

Facts & Figures The STEM Deficit Only 25% of people working in STEM related careers in Ireland are women. In last year’s Leaving Certificate cycle, 5,254 boys sat the engineering exam, compared with just 315 girls – or under 6%. In Ireland, we are facing a 5% year on year increase in the demand for high level ICT skills in Ireland between now and 2018. Only 16.9% of the Boards of Fortune 500 companies are female. Only 6% to 7% of all technical roles in Europe are filled by women. The lack of female participation in STEM means we are leaving 50% of the available talent pool behind.

Johnson & Johnson’s Commitment to STEM Johnson & Johnson entered into 10 partnerships around the world to encourage the increase of undergraduate women enrolling in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Manufacturing and Design (STEM2D). Building a diverse STEM2D community is one approach Johnson & Johnson is taking as part of a broader effort to accelerate the development of women leaders and to support women at all stages of their lives, to improve global health and well-being and drive sustainable economic growth. J&J’s global STEM2D programme focuses on three key areas: Partnering with existing organizations to align school curriculums, augmenting programme-based learning and encouraging Johnson & Johnson employees to become mentors to students. Partnering with academic institutions to develop strategies for increasing the number of women enrolling in and graduating in STEM2D programmes, degrees and graduate level research. Identifying and implementing best practice policies for attracting and retaining the world’s best female technical talent.

WiSTEM2D and UL Johnson & Johnson’s partnership with UL highlights a key objective of the company’s global STEM programme – i.e.: partnership with an academic institution, by focusing on promoting STEM within UL for current undergraduates and post-graduates. The WiSTEM2D programme at UL rolled out as follows: Step 1: Research was undertaken to determine the key areas that influence the retention of women in STEM disciplines. Step 2: Once the research had been completed and analyzed, four projects with teams of four students were chosen from the research analysis and provided with funding to move them forward. Step 3: Student grants were provided to support five, second year undergraduates studying STEM disciplines. The grants covered fees and books for the students. Step 4: Ongoing mentoring support for female STEM undergraduates was provided by Johnson & Johnson leaders.

Questions?