Meath students awarded at 56th BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition

Students from three Meath schools won FIVE awards from this year's BT Young Science and Technology Exhibition

The young scientists who are students at St. Joseph's Secondary School, Franciscan College and Eureka Secondary School impressed the judges and took home five awards from the Technology and Biological & Ecological Sciences categories. A total number of 10 projects represented Meath at the exhibition this year.

Cormac Harris and Alan O’Sullivan, both aged 16, fourth year students from Coláiste Choilm, Cork, have taken home the top prize for a project entitled “A statistical investigation into the prevalence of gender stereotyping in 5-7 year olds and the development of an initiative to combat gender bias”. The coveted prize was presented to the winners this evening in the BT Arena by Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh TD, and Managing Director of BT Ireland, Shay Walsh. Cormac and Alan presented their project in the Intermediate section in the Social and Behavioural Sciences category.

Head Judge of the Social and Behavioural Sciences Group category, Professor Joe Barry said about Cormac and Alan’s project, ‘Despite awareness of the lower percentage of females relative to males pursuing study and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), we still do not understand exactly why this is the case. 

The aim of Cormac and Alan’s project was to determine how early gender stereotyping can be identified. They conducted workshops with 376 5-7 year olds from a range of school settings with a number of different tasks including: choosing between gender-specific and gender-neutral toys; drawing and naming an engineer, and; rating male and female competency at a number of gender-specific roles. One of the most striking findings emerging from the research was that 96% of boys drew a male engineer while just over 50% of girls drew a female engineer. 

This, along with the other data, indicates that gender stereotypes emerge in young children and that they are particularly strong among boys. Cormac and Alan’s findings are important as intervention typically focusses on girls, but the project recognises the need to focus on all children, boys and girls, from a young age, in order to combat the development of gender stereotyping. The project is particularly impressive in that Cormac and Alan also created very pertinent and useable resources for primary school teachers to combat gender stereotyping among young children.’

The 2020 BT Young Scientist & Technology winners received the BTYSTE perpetual trophy and the top prize of €7,500. The lucky winners will also represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists, which takes place in Santander, Spain in September 2020. Cormac and Alan will also get to attend the 62nd Annual London International Youth Science Forum later in the year.

Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh TD, said, “Congratulations to all the students at this year’s BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition and in particular to Cormac and Alan on their fantastic project, well-deserved winners. The atmosphere of excitement, creativity and fun at the RDS this week has been incredible. I am particularly pleased to see so many young people tackling some of the most important issues facing us, from climate change to health, to technology, ethics and societal change. The students are a credit to their families, schools and teachers and they should rightly be proud of being here. They are a huge inspiration.

“I’d like to thank everyone involved in the unique and brilliant event that the BTYSTE is; the organisers; the 83 judges; the dedicated teachers; and of course, the mothers, fathers and families whose support is absolutely key to this.”

Shay Walsh, Managing Director, BT Ireland said, “Congratulations to all of our participants, and particularly to all our winners. For more than five decades, the Exhibition has shown the ingenuity of Ireland’s youth, and this year’s Exhibition is no exception. The students at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition have sought creative and innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues, and that spirit and drive is to be commended. We say “Create Today, Shape Tomorrow” at the exhibition and it really is only the beginning. From the young students involved in The Primary Science Fair to secondary students at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, it is vitally important that every student’s voyage of discovery does not end here.”