Number of women in Ireland registered for apprenticeships reaches record high

A record three thousand women across Ireland have registered as apprentices. 

The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, made the announcement today (March 8) on International Women's Day. 

The important milestone was reached as Minister Harris launched a targeted campaign to engage with girls' schools across the country. 

The campaign highlights the growing participation and leadership of women in apprenticeship, building exciting careers, women’s participation and leadership across industry sectors, and how this opportunity is available to every girl’s school in Ireland. 

Speaking at today’s apprenticeship Q&A event to mark International Women’s Day at Our Lady’s School, in Terenure, Dublin, Minister Harris said, "I’m delighted to announce that we have broken through the 3,000 milestone for apprenticeship registrations by women since 2016.

"It is encouraging that the rate of registrations is accelerating year on year. And the choice of programmes is growing each year, there are 66 apprenticeship programmes now available and later this year we are due to have up to 10 more programmes launched, for quantity surveyors, in horticulture, in farming and a further expansion of tech options. 

"Everyone should have access to these opportunities, and know all the facts, not least all of our young women in school. I am delighted that the National Apprenticeship Office is proactively spreading the word with young women at second level.” 

Director of the National Apprenticeship Office Dr Mary-Liz Trant said, "It is an honour to be back in my old school as the first Director of Ireland’s National Apprenticeship Office. It is wonderful to be starting our ‘Facts, Faces, Futures’ campaign this morning on International Women’s Day 2023 in Our Lady’s School. 

"We are at a tipping point with the enterprise community in Ireland where it is no longer a choice between further or higher, male or female, it is just about talent and the quickest and most reliable way to access it. This is why we have so many new career routes on offer through apprenticeship and why it is more important than ever that girls and women have clear information and signposting." 

As part of today’s celebrations, Minister Harris addressed some of Ireland’s future female talent at the school, encouraging students to avail of the excellent opportunities that apprenticeships offer to build 21st-century skills for life, and support their career goals and aspirations. 

The newly launched ‘Facts, Faces, Futures’ campaign aims to give school communities, family groups, groups of friends and the whole of society a different way of thinking about apprenticeship. 

According to the Department of Further and Higher Education, less than 30 women annually chose the apprenticeship route up until 2016. 

However there has been a significant rise in the number of women building careers through apprenticeships, with 370 women apprentices registering in 2019 and 966 women apprentices registering in 2022. 

Learn more about apprenticeships here.