AHEAD of International Women’s Day last Friday, representatives of Shannon Airport Group paid a visit to some younger members of its local community to deliver an important message about gender diversity.
Students from St. John’s National School in Shannon were asked to draw three different job roles in Shannon Airport; a fire fighter, a police officer and an engineer.
Research has shown that children start to form perceptions of gender roles from as early as two years, with such perceptions typically fully formed by the age of seven.
During this lesson, over 70% of children in the classroom, aged between four and eight, depicted male representations of fire fighters, police officers and engineers in their drawings.
At the end of the lesson, there was a surprise waiting for the children, when they were told that they were going to meet the people they had drawn working at the airport in real life.
Much to the children’s surprise, three female employees of The Shannon Airport Group walked in, who work in the exact roles that the majority of the class had depicted as male.
Loyola O’Brien, from the Shannon Airport Fire Service, Jean Moloney, Deputy Chief Officer of Security at Shannon Airport and Gráinne McInerney, Head of Engineering at the Shannon Airport Group chatted with the children about their roles, taking questions and even demonstrating some of the equipment they use in their day-to-day work.
At the end of the lesson, when the children were asked by their teacher ‘can women do the same jobs as men?’, an affirmative ‘yes they can’ was the verdict.
Some future female fire fighters, police officers and engineers had even emerged within the class group.
“I would like to congratulate St. John’s National School and our three fantastic female airport colleagues on their collaborative efforts to create this important and timely message about gender diversity on the eve of International Women’s Day,” said Mary Considine, CEO of The Shannon Airport Group
“Breaking down stereotypes and inspiring young minds to envision a world of limitless possibilities is a collective effort, and initiatives like this demonstrate the importance of fostering inclusivity and empowering the next generation to dream without limitations”.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.