Students from Midleton and Mallow have been named as recipients of funding for three first-year MTU Business Information Systems (BIS) scholarships.
Both Ava Mae Edwards (Saint Mary’s Secondary School, Mallow) and Natasha Fouhy (Saint Mary’s High School, Midleton), join with Katie O’Sullivan (Mount Mercy College, Bishopstown), in receiving the scholarships by Cognizant, a global technology services company, with offices in Dublin, Cork and Waterford. The three students were honoured at a ceremony in the Munster Technological University Council Room, where Catherine Murphy, Senior Lecturer, Project Lead for the Cognizant Scholarship programme welcomed the award recipients and their parents.
The announcement comes as new research from MTU highlights a persistent gender gap in confidence and participation among students in its BIS programme, despite strong academic performance by female students.
The BIS programme at MTU is widely recognised by industry partners throughout the southwest region for the quality of its students and graduates, with placement students in high demand each year due to their practical skills in project management, data analysis and systems design. BIS graduates progress into a broad range of career paths, including project management, data analytics, business analysis, and second level computing education.
“We’ve partnered with Cognizant to demonstrate continued support for our students, especially given this important research,” said Dr Noel Murray, Dean of the Faculty of Business at MTU. “While the findings show that female students are achieving strongly, they also highlight ongoing challenges around confidence and participation. This partnership enables us to better understand those barriers and take action, ensuring our programmes are inclusive and aligned with the needs of a modern, diverse workforce.”
SURVEY FINDINGS
Cognizant has also supported the new research project examining female participation in the BIS programme, reflecting a shared commitment to broadening access and encouraging diversity in technology focused disciplines.
Survey findings show that female enrolment in the programme remains consistently low, despite female progression rates being comparable to, and in some cases exceeding, those of male students. It also shows gender-based differences in confidence, career orientation, and perceptions of BIS, with female students demonstrating strong awareness of career opportunities, but lower confidence in their ability to succeed.
Evidence from the data gathered indicates that male students lean towards technical career preferences, while females tend towards business and leadership roles. Information gaps and lack of role models impact pre-tertiary female awareness of the programme, particularly coming from all-girls schools.
Orla Cussen, Associate Director Engagement Delivery Lead, and Avril O’Brien, Associate Director of Quality, joined Mr. David Sheedy, Head of Cognizant Life Sciences Manufacturing Ireland, at the event. The report into female participation in BIS, led by Joanne Cole and Dr. Tom O’Mahony from the Teaching, Learning, Assessment and Student Engagement (TLASE) Research Laboratory at MTU, was also presented at the event.
