Encouraging and improving the dissemination of science and technology among girls and young people

Currently, women constitute a minority in professions related to science and technology. Eighty-nine percent of ICT (information and communication technology) professionals in the European Union are men, which means that only two out of ten jobs are held by women, according to recent data from Eurostat.

Several studies point to reasons why women do not engage in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers, including the absence of female social references or social gender stereotypes.

This is why Techno Campus De Mataro decided to promote the TecnoGirl project together with Professor Marco Antonio Rodriguez.

The aim of this initiative is to foster a passion for science and technology among girls between the ages of twelve and eighteen. The goal of the project is to raise awareness, inspire and train young women, and give meaning to careers in STEM fields for new generations of females.

Inspiration, training and co-creation

“In order to achieve these goals, the TecnoGirl project has been divided into three phases,” Rodríguez explains. “Women’s Reference Exhibition in Science and Technology through Seminars and Tripods, Technology and Science Training Workshops for Girls, and HackGirl Activity”.

Hackgirl consists of a hackathon (the contraction between the term hacker and marathon). “The activity provides an example for understanding the contributions of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the social and environmental field. It focuses on waste management, proposed by Mataro City Council,” explains Rodriguez. “Participants exchange work sessions with technology training workshops and finally present their proposal or prototype to meet the challenge at hand.”

“In the coming months, we will become part of the STEAM Alliance for Women Talents from the Ministry of Education and Science. During the 2022-2023 school year, workshops will continue and exhibitions will be circulated through different bookstores in Maresme,” he added.

Good Practice Model by Diputació de Barcelona

The Good Practice Bank is part of the transformative culture project promoted by the Ministry of Culture of Diputació de Barcelona.

The objective of this project is to collect and disseminate both internal management and service delivery practices, whether they are their own or in collaboration with a third sector. Relevant and important actions (experiences, projects, activities, actions, etc.) that have produced positive results in a particular context and which are also expected to produce positive results in other contexts of a similar nature are sought.

In this sense, Diputació has chosen the TecnoGirl project of TecnoCampus de Mataró as a model of good practice.

The project also has the support of the Mataró City Council and received funding from Diputación in the framework of the call for grants from the Bibliolab Program in two of the three editions that have been implemented.