STEM Demystified – Furkan Karayel (Türkiye & Ireland)

The STEM Demystified Digital Portal is now live, a new home for real STEM stories made for teachers, educators, and curious young learners. Built to make STEM feel closer, friendlier, and genuinely possible, the portal brings together global role‑model stories, interactive exploration, and classroom‑ready inspiration. It’s a growing resource designed to help children see themselves in STEM, and to give educators an easy way to bring real‑world representation into lessons. Explore the portal at stemdemystified.com.

Today, Furkan Karayel is our STEM role model. Born in Türkiye, she is a multi-award-winning diversity and inclusion speaker and author of the best-selling book Inclusive Intelligence: How to be a Role Model for Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace.

Furkan developed an interest in technology from an early age, leading her to earn a BSc and MSc in Software Engineering from the Technological University of the Shannon, Athlone Campus, in Ireland. Today, she lectures in the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Master’s program at Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology. She also serves as a board member for Women for Election, an organization that supports women in Irish politics.

Furkan’s passion for promoting women-in-tech leadership, diversity, and empowering female founders globally led her to found Diversein.com. Her contributions have been recognised with numerous awards, including “Speaker of the Year” and “Diversity and Inclusion Role Model in Business.” Additionally, Furkan actively speaks at international events, sharing insights on inclusive leadership and the transformative power of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Let’s find out how Furkan journey has been so far.

What was your trajectory from school to where you currently are professionally/academically?

Growing up, I always wanted to work in technology, despite the fact that I’d never seen a woman do it before. I studied software engineering in Istanbul, then got transferred as an Erasmus exchange student to Athlone IT in Ireland.  Today I am a diversity and inclusion speaker. I share my learnings and what we can do to truly include and leverage Women in STEM, Women in Leadership and beyond.

What motivated you to get into STEM? Did you have a female role model or anyone who inspired you? If so, who?

To me, Tech was a tool that made people’s lives easier and saved them time. This is what made me fall in love with it. As a person who always wants to optimise time and resources, automation was already part of my daily life and I wanted to bring this passion to another level with software. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any role models. I asked myself what I could do to invest into myself from those days, then I thought maybe learning English could be a good starting point to open up my mindset to the global world. That’s how it all started.

What’s your most important professional/academic achievement?

Apart from the academic achievement, I guess my book “Inclusive Intelligence, how to be a role model for diversity and inclusion in the workplace” is one of my biggest achievements.

Did you face any challenge throughout your professional/academic journey? How did you overcome it?

Yes always. Especially after moving to Athlone in the 3rd year of my university, I was in a completely different world with different classmates, lecturers in a university system that’s so far away from my hometown. Culturally, having to know what is accepted and not accepted makes you feel a little withdrawn from yourself. The more I got involved with social activities I discovered that most of the Erasmus students were in the same situation with me. This bonded us stronger together. We learnt so much from each other too.

In your opinion, what needs to be done to attract more women into STEM?

We as woman software engineers, we must be actively visible in the media, in talks at school and tell our authentic stories to wider audiences. But most importantly, decision makers in STEM must be trained to see and recognise women and their work and shift their mindset from “what can I do” rather than “what women should do”.

What advice would you give to anyone looking into a career in STEM (or those who do not consider it)?

Personalise your STEM dream to align with your values. An Example to this, in the university, sometimes, I was the only girl in the class, my lecturer used to call us “lads” and give examples to football players and teams in database classes.  I used to feel invisible on those days. As a response, I used to design my database and projects with full of designer bags, my favourite vibrant colours and fonts to match my personality. It was so much fun!

Furkan Karayel’s journey from a young girl in Türkiye with a passion for technology to an internationally recognised diversity and inclusion advocate is truly inspiring. Her resilience in the face of cultural and professional challenges, combined with her unwavering commitment to promoting inclusive leadership, underscores the profound impact one individual can have on the global STEM community. Furkan’s story is a testament to the importance of representation and visibility, as she continuously breaks barriers and paves the way for future generations of women in tech.

Furkan, I’m immensely grateful for your dedication to promoting and fostering an inclusive environment in the tech industry.