Shalini Hollingum from Accenture, STInt's Industry Liaison Officers chatting with two STInt interns who will join Intel Ireland, Ria Brennan and Olivia Diamond and Peter Davis who will join Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS).

STInt Event Introduces New Interns to Industry Partners and Programme Supporters

04/04/2023

The STInt programme offers STEM teachers, at primary and post-primary levels, the opportunity to work with host organisations in industry over a three-month period during the summer.

Dublin City University kicked off the 2023 STEM Teacher Internship (STInt) programme on Wednesday, 29th March. The ‘Meet & Greet’ event was attended by this year’s incoming STInt interns and industry partners as well as programme supporters. The 2023 programme is the biggest to date with 83 interns completing 12-week paid internships in STEM roles in 44 leading organisations.

Minister Simon Harris announced in mid-March that the STInt programme will be funded for the next three years by Skillnet Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and Intel Ireland.

The event was addressed by Prof Brien Nolan, Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Science and Health, Dr Lisa Higgins, Head of Challenge Research, Education & Public Engagement at Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), Dr Jennifer McKenna from Intel Ireland, Paul Healy, CEO of Skillnet, Prof Anne Looney, Dean of the Institute of Education and Lucy Greene, who was an intern on the STInt programme.

Back row left to right: Ms Helen Fitzgerald, Senior Executive Administrator, EPI-STEM, UL, Mr. Bernie Capraro, EU Talent Development Programme Manager, Intel Ireland, Dr Lisa Higgins, Head of Challenge Research, Education & Public Engagement, Science Foundation Ireland, Paul Healy, CEO of Skillnet Ireland, Dr. Aoibhinn Ní Shuilleabháin, Assistant Professor, School of Mathematics & Statistics, UCD, Dr Jennifer McKenna, European Programme Manager, Intel Ireland

Front row left to right: Prof Deirdre Butler, School of STEM Education, Innovation & Global Studies, DCU Institute of Education, Executive Dean Prof Anne Looney, DCU Institute of Education, Prof Brien Nolan, Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Science and Health, DCU, Dr. Eilish McLoughlin, Associate Professor and Head of School of Physical Sciences, DCU.

To date, STInt has placed 177 STEM teachers in hands-on roles in over 40 of Ireland’s leading companies. As a result of their STInt experience, many teachers will help to inspire future generations of their own students to pursue a career in STEM.

The mission of the STEM Teacher internship programme is to promote innovative learning by facilitating collaborative STEM partnerships between key stakeholders in schools, universities, and industry. Established by DCU in 2016, it has evolved to an award-winning national programme offering internship opportunities to pre-service and early career teachers from a range of STEM specialisms in Dublin City University, Maynooth University, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, University College Dublin, University of Galway, and University of Limerick.

The STInt programme offers STEM teachers, at primary and post-primary levels, the opportunity to work with host organisations in industry over a three-month period during the summer. This national programme is led by STEM education academics Associate Professor Eilish McLoughlin and Professor Deirdre Butler from DCU’s CASTel’s research centre. One of the key strengths of this unique programme is its engagement and partnership with industry. A wide range of businesses act as host organisations for the STEM internships across many industrial sectors, including technology, pharma, medical devices, utilities, financial and professional services.

Full group at the STInt "Meet and greet" event with STInt teacher interns, industry partners and programme supporters

STInt Director, Eilish McLoughlin said:

We are excited to lead the national expansion of the STInt programme together with our strategic partners 30% Club, Connecting Women in Technology and sponsors Skillnet Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and Intel Ireland. We welcome the participation of pre-service primary and post-primary teachers from across seven Irish universities so their STint experience can have a positive impact on teacher’s understanding of integrated STEM education; support teachers in designing learning opportunities based on real-world contexts; and strengthen education-industry partnership in STEM Education across Ireland.

Prof Brien Nolan, Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Science and Health said:

In DCU and across the third level sector, we support prospective STEM teachers' development of the three central pillars of teaching: content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and skills, and the weaving together of these, giving teachers the capacities needed to build their own students' knowledge and skills. The STEM Teacher Internship programme provides an additional pillar by giving teachers the opportunity to see STEM in action in a variety of workplaces. This both enriches their teaching by allowing them to bring their experience back to the classroom, and enhances the STEM environment by bringing their teaching insights and skills to that setting.

Prof Anne Looney, Dean of the Institute of Education said;

At DCU we are proud to lead the STInt programme and to see its positive impact on the teachers of the future and how teachers are viewed by industry partners. A globally unique programme, teachers are gaining real life experience of the workforce and bringing this back to our classrooms. Speaking to STInt interns today at this “meet and greet”, it is clear that both the teachers and industry benefit enormously from this initiative, with many industry leaders thoroughly impressed by our early career or pre-service teachers.