“A thank you to the Irish women shaping technology policy” by Chloe Nguyen

Dr Sarah Anne Dunne

19.03.2025. We’ve been spouting on for awhile about the importance of digital policy in all its contexts and formats, but nothing feels better than when one of our students benefits so greatly from all this.

Recently, one of our MSc alnums, Chloe Nguyen, wrote of her experience with our educational programmes, highlighing particularly the ways in which women, so often underrecognised in areas of STEM, took a primary position throughout the course. She begins:

“The tech world is many things. Complex, controversial, Californian. Male-dominated, certainly. But I doubt that many would describe the direction of the tech world as increasingly driven by women from Ireland.

When I began my MSc in Digital Policy at University College Dublin, I was struck by the number of women who taught my courses. With backgrounds in the social sciences, these women work both in academia and in industry, sharing their expertise with institutions directly involved in shaping digital policy throughout Europe.”

More importantly, Chloe found her own experiences and voice valued when engaging with the researchers and stakeholders involved in teaching on our courses, highlighting the importance we put on our students developing and voicing their own critical thinking skills:

“During one of my first weeks in university, I met with two of these professors to learn about their work. But instead of spending most of that hour listening, I spent most of it talking. My professors were invested in learning about my interests and perspectives in a way that left me feeling empowered to share my beliefs with others.”

You can read more about Chloe’s experience on the Mitchell Scholars blog and be sure to have a look at the options available under our educational programmes.