on March 25, 2019
For our last tour date of 2018, we had to go out with a bang and Derry certainly did not disappoint! 153 girls and young women joined us at Millennium Forum ready to give Monster Confidence 2018 the send-off it deserved. From the attendees to the volunteers, everyone was in great spirits to make sure the event was a storming success.
The spectacular Rachel Gawley (Senior Product Researcher, PwC) and impeccable Mary Mckenna (tech entrepreneur) both gave keynote speeches to inspire the girls and show them how successful women in STEM can be. As always, we put on an exhibition, speed networking & mentoring, workshops on presenting & confidence, a professional photographer, mock interviews and a panel with incredible women from across the STEM industry. Panellists included:
- Rachel McNally, PwC
- Justine McMullam, Veolia
- Helen McNutt, AllState
- Clare McGee, Innovate-NI
- Sinead Bunting, Monster
Seagate, PwC, Innovate-NI, AllState and Awaken Hub all partnered with us for the final leg of the 2018 tour and with Monster Confidence in town, Twitter couldn’t contain itself:
Up next: More than 200 teenage girls are attending a @Stemettes conference in Derry today to inspire them to pursue a career in tech. @teresamcraig is at the Millenium Forum pic.twitter.com/eHYCqr0QtC
— BBC Radio Foyle (@BBCRadioFoyle) November 20, 2018
@Stemettes event kicked off by our very own Rachel Gawley giving 100 females, tips on having confidence within the Tech industry @deadlytoes @PwC_NI #MonsterConfidence #LeadingNI pic.twitter.com/X94aVZg2m6
— Paula Murnin (@paula_murnin) November 20, 2018
Great start to #MonsterConfidence in #Derry with @Stemettes @MMaryMcKenna @deadlytoes @aimafidon pic.twitter.com/8tRUNzGvBz
— Clare McGee (@ClareMcGee80) November 20, 2018
Well done girls – working on #MonsterConfidence engaging with #media @Stemettes @MillenniumForum #Derry pic.twitter.com/GhjBF859fj
— The Technology Dept (@StMarysDerryTD) November 20, 2018
Thank you Sinead @SineadBunting, Anne-Marie @aimafidon and all the fantastic speakers who helped our pupils @StCeciliasDerry develop #MonsterConfidence today in Derry. So delighted you brought the event to Derry. @Stemettes @Monsterjobs_uk #grateful #stem4girls @StCeciliasSci pic.twitter.com/c8My62DAVY
— CEIAGDept@StCecilias (@AisConaty) November 20, 2018
In terms of impact…
- 96% had increased awareness of STEM careers
- 98% had increased positive perception of STEM careers
- 92% had their STEM confidence increased
- 84% had their STEM network increased
When asked what they learnt, one girl responded, ‘how to articulate and present the real me, how to sell that and not feel bad about selling it’. Another girl spoke of how the day changed her perception of STEM careers stating that ‘there is more to STEM-related jobs than sitting at a computer or doing maths 24/7’.
Thank you to our host Millennium Forum and partners; PwC, Seagate, AllState, Innovate-NI and Awaken Hub. A round of applause to Monster for another successful leg and year of the Monster Confidence tour! For more details about the tour, visit monsterconfidence.co.uk
Pictures from the day can be found on our Flickr!