Abstract
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) are key disciplines towards tackling the challenges related to the Sustainable Development Goals. However, evidence shows that women are enrolling in these disciplines in a smaller percentage than men, especially in Engineering related fields. As stated by the United Nations Women section, increasing the number of women studying and working in STEM fields is fundamental towards achieving better solutions to the global challenges, since the potential for innovation is larger. In this paper, we present the Girls4STEM project, which started in 2019 at the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria de la Universitat de València, Spain. This project works towards breaking the stereotypes linked to STEM fields, addressing both boys and girls aged from 6 to 18, but especially trying to open the range of career options for young girls through interaction with female STEM experts. The goal is to spark girls’ interest in STEM disciplines from childhood, so that they become more self-confident in these areas. To achieve this goal, the project is built over three main actions: the Girls4STEM Family Talks, where students, families, and teachers participate; the Girls4STEM Professional Talks, where the target is a general audience; and the Initial Training Seminars for teachers. Short-term results are here presented, showing that aspects related to self-perception and perception from others (family, teachers) play a significant role. Moreover, these results also indicate that there may not be a general understanding of which disciplines are included in STEM.
Highlights
STEM is a widely used acronym for the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
This project works towards breaking the stereotypes linked to STEM fields, addressing both boys and girls aged from 6 to 18, but especially trying to open the range of career options for young girls through interaction with female STEM experts
The 65% of children beginning elementary school today could develop a career in jobs that do not currently exist yet, as it is stated in The Future of Jobs Report [4]. These global challenges can become opportunities to educate children as future citizens acting as agents of change in policies that enable a more sustainable future [5] in terms of equity, inclusion, diversity, prosperity, and justice, key aspects included in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Summary
STEM is a widely used acronym for the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Predictions indicate that STEM, especially Engineering and Technologies such as the Internet of Things, Big Data, or Artificial Intelligence, are profoundly transforming our society and the labor market This social change will require the training of students prepared to learn and develop 21st century skills such as communication, critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration, to effectively join the labor and social world, where they will have to solve problems in a global and changing environment [3]. This study develops a model to estimate a wide range of macroeconomic benefits of gender equality at the European level This model states that improving gender equality would have a very positive effect on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and on women’s employment. They forecast that, by 2050, improving gender equality would lead to an increase in the European GDP per capita from 6.1 to 9.6 (equivalent to e 1.95–3.15 trillion) and would steer towards the creation of 10.5 million jobs by 2050 (for both men and women)
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