Ongoing

Aquí STEAM UPC is an initiative of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) to attract female talent to study technology and engineering. The programme is specifically aimed at girls between 9 and 14 years old in Catalonia. The program aims to break the stereotypes and gender roles established in society and make visible new female references in an attractive and close way for girls. The main objective of the e Aquí STEAM UPC is to:

• promote scientific-technological vocations, especially among primary school students
• break the stereotypes and gender roles associated with engineering and technology
• make visible new models and female referents in these fields
• empower girls and improve the knowledge of professionals linked to STEAM.

One of the key components of the project is a training programme aimed at teachers of primary and secondary schools, aimed at introducing a gender perspective in educational action, in accordance with the principles of co-education and equal opportunities. Schools participating in the project obtain:

1. Registration and free participation in the training program “How to incorporate STEAM actions in our schools. Designing action plans for primary and secondary education”, a workshop aimed at primary and secondary education teachers with didactic proposals to encourage scientific and technological vocations in the classroom from a gender perspective.
2. Recognition of schools that promote specific actions for gender equality and the promotion of scientific and technological vocations among their students through the Aquí STEAM UPC badge, which articulates the network of participating schools and institutes. The seal will establish a common framework for deploying pedagogical innovation projects in these areas in schools.
3. The registration and participation of schools in the program of activities to promote scientific and technological vocations organized by the UPC (talks, conferences, informative workshops, visits, etc.) in the framework of the actions of information and guidance of studies.
4. The creation of a space for the generation and experimentation of ideas and proposals that promotes new synergies between primary education and the University in the fields of the promotion of technological vocations and gender equality through a platform with practices , pedagogical resources for teachers, methodologies, activities for students, etc.

the Ministry of Education and Sports has been developing cooperation projects with leading entities in the aerospace industry, such as the European Space Agency (ESA) through the ESERO educational project, based in the Granada Science Park and Airbus Space, based in Seville. This type of collaboration has made it possible to verify the effectiveness of the STEAM methodology in general, and aerospace research in particular, in relation to increasing the capacities and competencies of students. Against this background, the General Directorate of Teacher Training and Educational Innovation has considered it essential to promote aerospace research projects, which favour the development and deepening of the basic competencies of students from the interdisciplinarity offered by a STEAM approach, putting the student in the role of a researcher focused on the advances of the aerospace study, its application to health research, technological advances in our society and advances in the prevention of climate change, in relation to the pillars of the Horizon Europe. In this context the Ministry of Education and Sports has launched the STEAM project «Aerospace Research applied to the classroom» which has as its main objective to bring the teaching staff and students of Andalusian public schools closer to the study and aerospace research applied to the classroom. The specific objectives of the project are:

• Train teachers in the manipulation of aerospace resources and kits provided by the European Space Agency and the Ministry of Education and Sport
• Guide participation in aerospace competitions
• Promote STEAM vocations in students, especially among female students, contributing to equal opportunities
• Guide teachers in planning aerospace visits

Inspira STEAM is a pioneering project for the promotion of scientific-technological professions among girls. The programme is focused on awareness-raising and orientation actions through lectures ; mentoring by female professionals from the world of research, science and technology. At the heart of Inspira STEAM project are the mentors, who voluntarily bring their day-to-day lives closer to girls and boys (who are 11 years old) through six work sessions during school hours. Through the meetings between the mentor and the girls the project aims to help dispel doubts and objections about the professions in science and technology, clarify their motivations and strengthen their self-esteem to start this professional path.

It's the first time that the group-mentoring technique has been used in a project to promote STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) among elementary school students. The Inspira STEAM-project was developed in response to the need to promote scientific and technological vocations among students and the urgency to do so among girls who are underrepresented in these fields. The number of students who opt for technology training decreases every year. Among female, the figures are even worse: Despite the fact that 54.3% of all students in the Spanish university system are women, their presence in technical degrees such as Engineering and Architecture falls to 26.4%.

The core of the project are the mentoring-sessions. All of the mentors are scientists and technologists active in various fields: academic, business, research, management, etc. During the work sessions, topics such as gender stereotypes and the important role of women and science throughout History are addressed. With these meetings between the mentor and the girls, the aim is to help dispel doubts and objections about the professions in science and technology, clarify their motivations and strengthen their self-esteem to start this professional path. The main objectives of the project are:

• to facilitate new references of nearby female technologists
• to allow boys and girls discover STEAM professions
• to raise awareness of the need for the development of the country to occur between men and women
• career guidance in technology fields
• to make women technologists visible and valuing
• To make known the existing stereotypes so that they do not condition the choice of studies

Solaride is a project for students who want to contribute hands-on to solving our dependence on fossil fuels. To do so, the students are building a working solar car and taking it to the ultimate test run in Australia in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. The ultimate objective of Solaride is to promote engineering and its career options in Estonia.

The project gathers ambitious students from different fields, such as engineers, electronics, mechanics, software etc. from all over Estonia. The project has grown continuously into the size of an average company. Currently there are almost 70 team members. The team also has various prominent mentors from universities and companies to share their know-how with the students. Besides that, Solaride has strong support from cooperation with several Estonian universities and gives participating students the opportunity to gain practical knowledge and compete in an international competition. With this, the project promotes engineering and technology among the pupils and students.

The ultimate objective of Solaride is to promote engineering and its career options in Estonia. As a country Estonia faces a serious shortage of engineers and specialists, now and in the future. The overall aim of the project is to promote STEM career paths through hands-on experiences early on. The promotion of technology and engineering is therefore important to bring people to engineering and have the necessary workforce in the future. The programme also contributes to the development of innovation and science-based economy in Estonia. According to the analysis on the workforce needed in Estonia, in 10 to 15 years, 60% of the occupations are the kind of which we do not have today. Therefore, adapting with new and novel technology is critical.

The Merkuur programme has developed mobile workshops to introduce various trades, techniques and tools in the metal and wood industries to young people and to offer them hands-on opportunities to test the tasks associated with these trades in order to raise their career awareness and competitiveness in the fields of technology and engineering.

Merkuur has two mobile workshops and more than sixty different learning solutions to provide young people with hands-on opportunities to carry out tasks in metal and woodwork, electronics, bionics and many other engineering fields. The Mobile Workshops are self-built mobile classrooms and therefore workshop activities can take place all over Estonia. Schools, vocational school and other interested organizations can request the mobile classroom service at their premises.

In the beginning, the Mobile Workshop service and its activities were provided as a form of non-formal learning. Since 2018, the team has consistently worked on developing partnerships with various educational schools, vocational schools and colleges. Teachers and mentors of mobile workshops organise technology lessons, project days and hobby groups in schools. In addition to daily activities, the team has developed a modern methodological material used to introduce CNC equipment to young people and to implement their new knowledge both individually and in teams, while carrying out product development tasks, testing various material treatment methods and preparing metal and wood products with a real purpose.

The objective is to give young people practical knowledge about engineering and technology, which is measured by the number of kids participating in the activities of Mobile Workshop.

The objectives of the workshops are related to a broader government strategy to raise the popularity of engineering as a career choice due to the fact that Estonia is facing a shortage of engineers, failing to meet the current labour market demand as well as the expected demand in the future. In addition, the programme is associated with the aim to develop a research-intensive economy. By educating young people and giving them early access to hands-on engineering possibilities, it increases the interest of students in starting a career in engineering.

According to Eurostat (see 'data' page) only 22.8% of employed ICT specialists in Estonia are women. In addition, girls are strongly underrepresented in extracurricular STEM courses among children aged 7-12 (for every ten boys, there is only one girl). The HK Unicorn Squad girls-only hobby groups aim to increase the number of girls that show an interest in STEM in this age-group (lower secondary education level) as well as maintaining that interest over time.

The founders of the movement are Kerstin and Taavi Kotka, a married couple, who started a “girls-only” technology hobby-group for their daughter Helena in September 2018, as she was kicked out from the technology hobby group at school given the explanation that the field is more suitable for boys.

Unicorn Squad hobby group is a “ready-to-use” solution. Teaching materials are fully prepared for the lessons along with video tutorials for the supervisor. Also, equipment for certain courses is provided by the programme. Course modules take place once a week. Teaching materials and equipment (e.g. robots and other teaching materials) for certain lessons are sent to mentors in a big plastic box weekly using a parcel machine. After using them, the mentor returns them or sends them to next group according to instructions from the HK Unicorn Squad project manager.

The interest and demand for girls-only technology hobby groups was so big that within two years the movement has engaged 1200 girls (age 7-14) all over Estonia. Active hobby groups are available in almost  every county of the country. The interest keeps on growing and additional hobby groups are constantly opened.

‘Technology Understanding’ (Teknologiforstaelse) a.k.a. Informatics is a three-year pilot programme focused on introducing Informatics as a new subject in primary and lower secondary education (age: 6-16). The goal of this new subject is to develop the critical ability of students to (responsibly) use and shape technology, rather than just consuming it. In the pilot-phase the subject is tested both as an independent subject and as a ‘professionalism’ (integrated in multiple existing subjects including social studies, language and visual arts).

The pilot programme and its implementation is coordinated by the Danish ministry for Children and Education. The content of the subject has been prepared by an advisory expert group of around 20 scholars from universities, University Colleges, and ministry learning consultants as well as school teachers. 

The ojectives of the subject itself are to develop the students ability to (responsibly) use and shape technology. To achieve this the work done by students in the context of the subject focuses on four interrelated areas of competence:

• Digital empowerment: the ability to critically examine how technology is imbued with values and intentions, and how it shapes our lives as individuals, groups and as a society.
• Digital design and design processes: the ability to incrementally design digital artefacts with respect to the context of future use
• Computational thinking: the ability to analyse, model and structure data and data processes
• Technological competences: knowledge about principled function of computer systems, networks, security, privacy and programming skills

A short video explaining each of the competence areas and related activities can be found via the link above.

The objective of the three year pilot-phase is to test the new Informatics subject in two configurations (as a stand-alone subject and through integration in other subjects).

The predecessor programme, National Excellence Programme, was funded from European Social Fund (ESF) resources. The New National Excellence Programme started in 2016 and was financed from the central budget of Hungary. The programme’s budget was HUF 2.2 billion (around 6 million euro) in 2016, HUF 4 billion (around 11 million euro) in 2017, HUF 4 billion in 2018, HUF 4 billion in 2019 and HUF 4 billion in 2020. The responsible organisations are the Ministry for Innovation and Technology and the coordinating entity managing the program: the National Research, Development and Innovation Office.

‘Choice of Education’ (Velgriktig) is a national website launched in 2009 that aims to inform young people, their parents and teachers about STEM education and careers. The website was developed following focus group research carried out by the National Centre for Science Recruitment (NCR) that showed that young people in Norway are insufficiently informed about the prerequisites (in terms of high school topics) of STEM higher education and pathways to STEM careers. The ‘Choice of Education’ website makes this information available for teachers and students in a clear and concise way.

The main objective of the ‘Choice of Education’ project is to provide information about which STEM-courses (secondary education) are required to enter various college and university programmes as well as to show students the opportunities that STEM degrees offer, inspiring them to choose STEM subjects and careers. ‘Choice of Education’ directly contributes to the objectives of ‘Close to STEM’ (the Norwegian national STEM strategy) of the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training (see background documents).

Norwegian companies are reporting a major need for technologists. Technical skilled workers, engineers and scientists are in high demand, and these are all fields where women are in distinct minority. The aim of the Girls and Technology-programme is therefore to increase the number of girls that choose education within technology fields – both practical and theoretical. 

The programme was founded in 2003. A partnership consisting of several social partners and the University of Agder came together to improve the recruitment of girls to the university's technology study programs. Through events with female role models, they were able to inspire and inform girls about the possibilities within technology education. 

The share of women in technology studies in Norway remains low. Currently 3-11% of technical vocational students are women (Statistics Norway, 2015). 20% of Norwegian engineering students are women (Norwegian Centre for Research Data, 2017). In light of this, the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) decided to upscale the project to a national level in 2016. With funding from the Ministry of Children and Equality the project has now been carried out for four years and continues in 2020. In 2018 The Norwegian Society of Engineers and Technologists (NITO) and The National Centre for STEM recruitment (NCR) joined the project to strengthen the team and expand the project further. Its objective is still to increase the share of women in technology studies. Technology in this context is defined according to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Vocational training and education is included in the project goals. The three subgoals for the project are:

• To increase the share of women in STEM higher education
• To Increase the share of women in technical vocational education and training
• To Increase the share of women in technical vocational colleges

To achieve this the project is using young female role models, under education or with jobs within technology, to show and inform about the different opportunities you have as a young girl to make your first educational choices. It is also an important aim to show the variety in what technology is and how it can be be used to improve the world and contribute to a more sustainable society. Another important aspect of the project is to show the diversity of people, with different backgrounds and competence, that is necessary to develop technology suitable for all kinds of people and needs.  

The methodology that pervades all activities in the project is using young, female role models to motivate and inform about technology studies and work possibilities within technology (see related studies in background documents). The programme implements a wide variety of activities.

An annual national tour has been arranged since 2016. In 2019 the tour consisted of 17 separate events all over Norway. The target group was girls in year 9 and 10 of lower secondary school. Approximately 7000 girls participated altogether. Each event lasts for 3 hours, and consists of various short talks from role models, talk show-style chats with a moderator, short video clips, demonstration of new technologies and competitions and workshops to increase the interaction between the audience and the role models. A success factor for the individual talks was the balance between personal experience and information about a given field of education or occupation. For each event we secured a variety of backgrounds – from various technology fields, and different levels of education to fulfil each individual subgoal as described below. In addition, career counselors and teachers were invited to the event and provided with posters and info material about STEM education pathways.

In 2019 Girls and Technology also hosted two live streams on YouTube. The format of the live streams was similar to the national tour events but limited to 45 minutes. Girls from year 9 and 10 in lower secondary school were invited to participate and the live streams had more than 3000 viewers. In addition, the Girls and Technology network of universities organized local Girls and Technology events on one shared day in February. The target group for these events were girls aged between 15-19. 8 universities participated in a total of 7 events, and a total of 1850 girls participated. There were also stands with various activities during the breaks (more information on the programme's reach below).

In 2020 the physical tour was replaced by a digital tour with 11 live streams, one for each county. The streams were modified to each county with local role models and representatives from regional industries. A total of 9 600 girls in grade 9 and 10 attended the live streams. 

In connection with the national tours in 2017-2019, NHO, The Norwegian Society of Engineers and Technologists (NITO) and NCR conducted a national competition for Technology students to win a study trip to NASA in Houston. The competition got significant attention at universities, in social media and in traditional media. The six winners got to experience a dream week of meeting astronauts, engineers, flight directors and many others working with space technology. The trip was communicated through daily updates on all social medias, and a film was produced after the trip (video 3). Most importantly, the winners were used as role models in the national Girls and Technology tour. Their presentations about the trip and space technology were tremendously popular among the girls in the audience. In 2020 the prize was a trip to Svalbard which also generated a lot of attention amongst students.

In adittion to the annual tour, social media and traditional media is used to reach girls year round and also to reach parents and career councelors.