Programme: Erasmus+
Action Type: KA220-HED – Cooperation partnerships in higher education
Field: Higher Education
Project Title: Girls go STEM
Project Acronym: GISTEM
Start: 01-09-2022 – End: 31-08-2024

Summary:
The vision of the project is a society in which girls confidently lead in STEM entrepreneurship and contribute to their community and the economy.
Identified problem: Underrepresentation of women and girls in STEM is a deeply rooted and complex social problem.
According to the latest data from euro stat (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/edn-20210210-1) in 2019, there were more than 6.3 million female scientists and engineers in the EU, accounting for 41% of total employment in science and engineering. By sector, women were underrepresented in manufacturing (where only 21% of scientists and engineers were female), while there was more of a gender balance in the services sector (46%). Among EU Member States, the proportion of female scientists and engineers varied widely in 2019, ranging from 55% in Lithuania to 28% in Luxembourg.
Recent research and real-world initiatives have shown that there are ways to reduce gender bias, increase the perceived and actual social relevance of STEM, and ultimately increase women’s sense of belonging in these fields. In the report on Women and STEM in Europe and Central Asia, released in 2021 by the Word Bank Group, the authors made a systematic review on 21 articles, and concluded that there are several answers to the question: What works? Mostly, it is: the education domain of female teachers; exposing girls to nontraditional or gender-neutral roles in the learning environment; and female peer mentoring, see https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35463.
We are using this and similar research to make a unique approach in our project proposal. Final goal of the project and our motivation is to have more girls and young women in the STEM subject studies, using the activities and results within this project.
No country in the world has so far succeeded in achieving gender equality. With the current development, we will not see a world with equal rights for men and women in our lifetime. Gender inequality is especially apparent within the field of digital technology and STEM. With this project we will make a meaningful contribution on achieving gender equality in STEM.