Dozens of teenage girls have been taking part in an initiative over the past two weeks aimed at getting them interested in careers in technology.

Teen-Turn places the young people with top tech-focused companies around the country for up to a fortnight, so they can see firsthand what the industry and jobs within it involve.

The teens receive one-to-one mentoring in the companies and are given workshops and introductory sessions about what they do.

30 companies took part in the scheme this summer following a pilot last year and those behind it want to expand the number of participating companies and girls further.

The aim of the project is to increase gender diversity in the tech industry, and by extension fill the significant skills gap across the sector, by showing teenage girls that they can fit in.

"The proposition is that more girls gaining an interest in technology careers at this stage will lead to more women earning those qualifications and filling those available jobs," said Joanne Dolan, co-founder of Teen-Turn.

The initiative is particularly focused on young people from schools in disadvantaged areas, as it is felt they will benefit most from the opportunity.

Those who have just finished their third year in school are encouraged to take part, so that they have time to explore the tech industry further as they move through the Leaving Cert cycle.

Among the companies who took part this year were IBM, BT, Movidius, Openet and Zalando.

"What we try to do is to expose them to as many areas within the businesses as we could," said Deirdre O'Brien, Irish site lead with the German online fashion retailer Zalando.

"So they met with some of the technical teams, some of the data scientists, we have a number of project managers and they all would have done workshops of what they do on a day to day basis."

The four girls who were placed at Zalando said the experience had opened their eyes to the opportunities.

"In school I never heard of a data scientist or trend forecaster and now I'm seriously interested in looking into these jobs," said Chloe Walsh from Mount Carmel Secondary School in Dublin.

"I wanted to be a fashion designer," said Sahal Zalavi from Presentation Secondary School, Warrenmount in Dublin.

"Now I might rethink to a trend forecaster, or merchandiser or a web designer. So this is all interesting."