STEM Advocate of the Year: A Defining Moment for Women in STEM in Ireland
News articles across Ireland’s education and technology sectors have been spotlighting a story worth attention: Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) is celebrating a major national award win for its gender equality initiative, TrailblazHER™. Project Director Claire MacNamee was named STEM Advocate of the Year at the 2026 Diversity Inclusion Tech Awards, an honour that recognises her contribution to advancing opportunities and representation for women and girls in STEM throughout Ireland.
The recognition arrives just over two and a half years after the launch of TrailblazHER™, and it lands at a time when diversity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering and mathematics remain pressing priorities for employers, educators and policymakers. For students weighing a future in technology, teachers guiding young women toward STEM subjects, and organisations working to build inclusive workplaces, the story behind this award offers practical insight into how sustained, community-driven advocacy produces measurable results.
If you are exploring a future in science or technology, explore TU Dublin’s full range of undergraduate and postgraduate STEM courses to see where your own path could begin.
The Story Behind the Award: Claire MacNamee and TrailblazHER™
Claire MacNamee holds a dual role at TU Dublin as Project Director of TrailblazHER™ and Head of Enterprise Engagement, and she has been central to the initiative since its inception. Under her leadership, TrailblazHER™ has brought together colleagues, students, schools, industry partners and supporters around a shared ambition: to create greater opportunities for women and girls across Ireland, particularly in fields where they remain underrepresented.
Reflecting on the win, MacNamee emphasised that advocacy is never the work of one person. She credited a broad community — students, schools, colleagues, industry partners, mentors and supporters — with taking TrailblazHER™ from an idea to an initiative that has reached thousands of people in just over two years. Her comments underline a principle that anyone working in the diversity and inclusion space will recognise: lasting change is built collectively, not through individual effort alone.
The STEM Advocate of the Year award also signals something broader about TU Dublin’s institutional direction. Gender equality work at the university is not confined to a single office or campaign; it is embedded in enterprise engagement, curriculum development and community outreach, giving initiatives like TrailblazHER™ the structural support they need to grow.
How TrailblazHER™ Works: Inspire, Develop and Innovate
TrailblazHER™ organises its work across three pillars — Inspire, Develop and Innovate — connecting schools, students, communities, enterprise and industry. The structure is straightforward but effective, and it offers a useful template for any organisation designing a Women in STEM programme.
Inspire: Showing Girls What Is Possible
Representation begins with visibility. The Inspire pillar focuses on connecting girls and young women with role models, experiences and stories that make STEM careers feel attainable. When students meet engineers, data scientists and technologists who share aspects of their background, abstract career paths become concrete possibilities. Schools across Ireland play a central role here, and initiatives like TrailblazHER™ give teachers and guidance counsellors practical ways to bring those encounters into the classroom.
Develop: Building Skills, Confidence and Networks
Inspiration alone does not close representation gaps. The Develop pillar supports women and girls as they build technical skills, professional confidence and the networks that sustain long-term careers. Mentoring, development programmes and direct links between students and employers help participants move from interest to qualification to employment — the point where many well-intentioned outreach efforts historically lose momentum.
Innovate: Changing Systems, Not Just Individuals
The third pillar addresses the environment women enter, not just the individuals entering it. By working directly with enterprise and industry partners, TrailblazHER™ encourages workplaces to examine hiring practices, culture and progression routes. This systems-level focus distinguishes initiatives that produce durable change from those that generate headlines without shifting outcomes.
The initiative is made possible through the support of partners including Intel, ESB, Fidelity Investments, Jones Engineering, PwC, Workday and Enterprise Mobility — a roster that demonstrates how Irish and multinational employers are treating gender equality in STEM as a shared responsibility rather than a university-only concern.
Why Women in STEM Representation Matters for Ireland’s Future
Ireland’s economy depends heavily on technology, pharmaceuticals, engineering and research — sectors that consistently report skills shortages. When women remain underrepresented in STEM education and careers, the country draws on only a fraction of its available talent. Expanding participation is not simply a matter of fairness, although that alone would justify the effort; it is an economic imperative.
Research across multiple industries consistently finds that diverse teams make better decisions, solve problems more creatively and reflect customer bases more accurately. For employers competing for talent in a tight labour market, organisations that genuinely welcome women into technical roles access a wider candidate pool and retain staff more effectively. For students, the message is equally practical: STEM careers offer strong employment prospects, and the barriers that once made those careers feel out of reach are being actively dismantled.
This is why awards such as the Diversity Inclusion Tech Awards matter. They create visibility for effective models, reward the individuals doing the slow work of change, and give schools, parents and students concrete examples of progress. To learn more about TU Dublin’s wider equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives, visit the university’s EDI pages and see how these values are embedded across campus life.
A Standout Year: Shortlistings for Women in STEM and Green Gown Awards
The STEM Advocate of the Year win forms part of an exceptional run of recognition for TrailblazHER™ and TU Dublin more broadly.
- Women in STEM Awards: TrailblazHER™ has been named a finalist for Diversity and Inclusion Initiative of the Year, recognising its work creating opportunities for women and girls across education, enterprise and industry.
- Green Gown Awards UK & Ireland 2026: The initiative is also a finalist in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Sustainability category — a nod to the growing understanding that social and environmental sustainability are interconnected goals.
- Institutional success: TU Dublin has secured six finalist places across the 2026 Green Gown Awards, more than any other institution on the island of Ireland, and is in contention for Sustainability Institution of the Year.
Dr Aoife Blowick, Senior Manager of TrailblazHER™, noted that it is rewarding to see the initiative recognised alongside so many pioneering projects, and pointed to TU Dublin’s six Green Gown finalist places as evidence of the scale of ambition and innovation happening across the university. Winners of both the Women in STEM Awards and the Green Gown Awards will be announced later this year.
Four Lessons Organisations Can Take from TrailblazHER™’s Success
For employers, educators and community organisations working on diversity and inclusion in STEM, the TrailblazHER™ model offers transferable lessons:
- Anchor the initiative in a clear framework. Three focused pillars — Inspire, Develop and Innovate — give the programme direction and make its impact easier to communicate, measure and fund.
- Build coalitions rather than campaigns. Schools, students, university staff, mentors and corporate partners each play a distinct role. Sustainable advocacy connects them instead of working in silos.
- Secure committed corporate partners. The involvement of companies such as Intel, ESB, Fidelity Investments, Jones Engineering, PwC, Workday and Enterprise Mobility brings resources, role models and employment pathways — and signals that industry shares responsibility for the outcome.
- Recognise progress publicly. Award entries, shortlistings and wins amplify the work, attract new participants and partners, and hold the initiative accountable to a growing community.
What Students, Schools and Career Changers Can Do Next
For girls and young women considering STEM, the growth of initiatives like TrailblazHER™ means more entry points: school outreach programmes, mentoring relationships and university events designed with them in mind. Students and guidance counsellors can follow TU Dublin’s news and events pages to stay informed about open days and outreach activities throughout the year.
For women already in the workforce who are considering a move into technology or a return to education after a break, flexible study routes exist. Explore part-time, Springboard+ and lifelong learning options that fit around existing commitments — many women re-enter STEM through exactly these pathways.
Teachers and school leaders can act as well. Partnering with university outreach programmes is one of the most effective ways to give students early, positive exposure to STEM subjects and to the people who work in them, long before CAO choices are made.
Share your experiences in the comments below: what encouraged — or discouraged — you or your students from pursuing STEM, and what kind of support would help most?
Looking Ahead for Women in STEM in Ireland
The announcement of the Women in STEM Awards and Green Gown Awards results later this year will bring further attention to TrailblazHER™ and to TU Dublin’s broader sustainability and equality agenda. Whatever the outcomes, the initiative’s trajectory over two and a half years — from launch to national recognition and a community spanning schools, students and major employers — demonstrates what focused advocacy can achieve when institutions, industry and communities commit to a shared goal.
For readers following news about Women in STEM, diversity and inclusion, and higher education in Ireland, TrailblazHER™ is a story worth tracking. Follow TU Dublin’s latest news for updates on the upcoming award results, and pass this article along to a student, colleague or school community that could benefit from seeing what is possible.
