Fact-checking RTÉ about women in STEM
A recent story¹ on RTÉ News said:
“The 2024 I Wish Report showed that 60% of Irish teenage girls believe that gender inequality is the biggest barrier preventing them from pursuing careers in STEM.”
[1]: https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2025/0206/1495000-showcase-to-encourage-girls-to-take-up-careers-in-stem/
I checked the report² myself. RTÉ's claim seems to be drawn from page 8.
[2]: https://www.iwish.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/I-WISH-2024-Survey-Report.pdf
The page is so poorly written that it's hard to know what the underlying question was, but it appears that girls were asked to identify “Barriers to STEM Careers”. Therefore, on the evidence of this document, RTÉ's story is wrong, because the question asked about “barriers”, not “the biggest barrier” or “the biggest barriers”.
In any case, 60% of respondents did indeed cite “Poor gender equality in STEM careers”. However:
• 60% cited “Lack of information about careers in STEM”;
• 58% cited “Lack of school visits by female role models”.
“The 2024 I Wish Report showed that 60% of Irish teenage girls believe that gender inequality is the biggest barrier preventing them from pursuing careers in STEM.”
[1]: https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2025/0206/1495000-showcase-to-encourage-girls-to-take-up-careers-in-stem/
I checked the report² myself. RTÉ's claim seems to be drawn from page 8.
[2]: https://www.iwish.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/I-WISH-2024-Survey-Report.pdf
The page is so poorly written that it's hard to know what the underlying question was, but it appears that girls were asked to identify “Barriers to STEM Careers”. Therefore, on the evidence of this document, RTÉ's story is wrong, because the question asked about “barriers”, not “the biggest barrier” or “the biggest barriers”.
In any case, 60% of respondents did indeed cite “Poor gender equality in STEM careers”. However:
• 60% cited “Lack of information about careers in STEM”;
• 58% cited “Lack of school visits by female role models”.