© 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.Physics is contributing strongly to the national Irish economy, with 4.5% of the Irish workforce employed in physics-based or other science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) sectors. However, a recent national report reveals that the proportion of women working in jobs that utilize STEM skills is less than 25% of the workforce. We present data collected from the views of 1,000 female secondary school students, young women (age 18-23), secondary-school teachers and parents on what influences secondary school students' choices of subjects and in particular STEM-related subjects. In addition, benchmarking data on female student and staff ratios for the past five years is presented from all seven Irish university physics departments.