Our News 'CreateHER' a new creativity and innovation programme for female students launched by IdeasLab

IdeasLab, University of Galway's student innovation hub has launched CreateHER, a new creativity and innovation programme for female students in the university.

CreateHER has been developed to respond to the needs of our female students, which account for 60% of our 19,000 students. Our research at institutional level and interntaional reports clearly show the need for more supports for female students in the entrepreneurial space. 

The programme has been designed to respond directly to a clear need to support more female students to consider entrepreneurship as a viable career option. The European Start Up Monitor reports that only 14.8% of founders are female, a statistic that is further supported by the GEM 2019 report which shows the lowest level of female involvement at the early stage of entrepreneurial activity at 6%.  

CreateHER will expand our community of female innovators and entrepreneurs with a particular focus on grass roots level and will start to develop these skills and mindsets during our female students time in University.

 The programme is supported by a powerhouse advisory board that spans the worlds of creativity, innovation, academia and entrepreneurship. We believe that our students will learn best from each other, our advisory, our community of female entrepreneurs and our supporters. The CreateHER programme will utilise a round table approach with each team hosted by a female entrepreneur, the programme will also include weekly workshops, mentoring and many opportunities to network and build their networks now and for their future.

'From the moment we recognised a gap in female participation in entrepreneurship we knew we wanted to create a programme unlike any other offered to third level students. We have taken inspiration from our advisory group, national leaders in the entrepreneurship space including Paula Fitzsimons of Going for Growth and Acorns and consulted extensively with our female students to create a programme that can help to redefine the future of female entrepreneurship in our region. Today is an incredibility proud and important day for us at IdeasLab and we look forward to celebrating many successes from the CreateHER programme'. Dr Natalie Walsh, Director of Entrepreneurial Development.

Joining the University to deliver CreateHER is WestBIC - Business and Innovation Centre. WestBIC provides tailored, high level supports to entrepreneurs to convert their innovative ideas into a commercial reality. They will support CreateHER with mentorship and host events and workshops during the programme

'Female entrepreneurship is key focus for WestBIC and it’s really encouraging to see female entrepreneurs leading the way in a number of highly innovative start-ups, many of which have their origins in the third level sector. WestBIC is delighted to support the University of Galway in delivering the CreateHER programme and we look forward to working closely with the IdeasLab team.' John Brennan, CEO WestBIC

CreateHER is funded by the Higher Education Authority and the European Institute of Technology (EIT).

Find out more about CreateHER on IdeasLab Programmes webpage. 

Pictured: University of Galway students, Jenny Mullery IdeasLab, University of Galway President Ciarán Ó hOgartaigh, Natalie Walsh IdeasLab.