Dundalk Grammar School students celebrate huge win in analytics contest
Four TY students from Dundalk Grammar School claimed the top prize in Accenture's Girls in Analytics competition.
Four students from Dundalk Grammar School won the top prize in Accenture's Girls in Analytics TY programme on Monday, 16 December.
The Girls in Analytics programme was established in 2023 by three female data scientists who work within the Data and AI team at Accenture who were inspired by research which suggested that the relative shortage of women studying analytical degrees in colleges is not due to lack of interest or talent, but rather primarily due to a lack of confidence in their own abilities.
In a survey conducted by Accenture in 2018, around 62% of girls aged 14+ said they regretted not having studied Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) subjects for longer. Among those who regret their decision, around 31% said that STEM subjects were more relevant than they realised and 30% said that STEM would have broadened their career options.
The contest aims to give secondary school girls an insight into the field of analytics and break down any perceived barriers for women in this area by providing them with confidence to pursue STEM subjects in school and at college.
Representing Dundalk Grammar School, Imogen Dawson, Grace Gleason, Isabel Jensma and Arianna McArdle were the well-deserved winners of the contest.
The girls presented their project on Investigating Gender Parity at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. They found that although there was gender parity at an overall level among athletes, discrepancies occurred both in athletes' gender at national levels and in the gender of coaches.
Dundalk Grammar School have expressed their pride in the TY students' impressive achievement and hard work.