The Dutch gender variety experience centre for science, know-how, engineering and maths (STEM), VHTO, organised the primary Girls’ Day 13 years in the past to introduce girls to those topics at a younger age and handle the extreme underrepresentation of girls within the IT sector.
This is a particular day every year on which girls aged between 10 and 15 go to corporations in STEM and IT. This 12 months, over 9,000 girls from greater than 200 colleges participated, visiting over 250 corporations. “Last year, about 6,500 girls participated, so this is a significant increase,” stated Sahar Yadegari, director of VHTO.
This exhibits a gradual bounce again from a droop that occurred after 2020, when Girls’ Day was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, there have been as many as 10,000 functions.
Unconscious prejudices
Not solely is Girls’ Day essential to introduce extra variety in technical fields, but it surely additionally goals to scale back the acute scarcity of individuals with a technical background, stated Marieke Snoep, chief of enterprise market at Dutch telco KPN.
“In our own organisation, there are very few female mechanics, for example. We therefore find it extremely important to introduce girls and boys to a technical profession in an appealing way,” stated Snoep. “The interest in this starts in primary education, so it is important to motivate children at an early age and no longer make a distinction between boys and girls.”
“Parents and schools need to become much more aware they are still conveying unconscious biases” Sandra Wasseur, Oracle
Unconscious prejudice nonetheless performs a major function within the Netherlands, not simply in training, but additionally amongst dad and mom. Sandra Wasseur, dynamic marketer at Oracle, pointed to a research by VHTO.
“This involved asking advice from education professionals about a fictitious pupil who is unsure about a technical profile. This pupil’s name was sometimes Anouk and sometimes Thomas,” stated Wasseur. “I was shocked to learn that Thomas received positive advice for a technical choice almost twice as often as Anouk. Parents and schools need to become much more aware they are still conveying unconscious biases.”
Making IT interesting
Diana Smith, enterprise growth associate at IT firm Kyndryl, thinks the sector’s picture is primarily accountable. “IT still has a stuffy and nerdy image. That’s why it’s so important to show girls that you can actually do really cool things with it.”
This is a purpose for nearly each collaborating organisation to participate in Girls’ Day. For instance, the girls visiting Cisco on Girls’ Day this 12 months had been taken to Nike. “This way, we can show the girls what role technology plays in fashion, for example,” stated Hein Dekkers, director of digital acceleration within the Netherlands at Cisco.
“Last year, we took a group of girls to the Rijksmuseum to show them how Rembrandt’s The night watch is scanned. Showing concrete applications contributes enormously to the girls’ perception.”
“IT still has a stuffy and nerdy image. That’s why it’s so important to show girls that you can actually do really cool things with it” Diana Smith, Kyndryl
Lisa Klein, a software program engineer at Q42, agreed: “I never set out to be a software developer, but when I was introduced to it on my communication and multimedia design course, I realised it was so much cooler than I’d ever thought.”
She has observed a change within the girls who go to Q42 throughout Girls’ Day. “Not all of them, of course, because everyone has their own preferences, but I speak to a number of girls every year who tell me that they initially thought it would be very boring, but now they think it’s super fun,” stated Klein.
Education should embrace digitisation
VHTO director Yadegari hopes Girls’ Day will not exist in 10 years’ time. “I hope, by then, we as a society will no longer associate engineering and technology with men by default, but that it will be just as logical for girls and women to choose that direction.”
There continues to be quite a bit of work to be achieved to achieve that state of affairs, nonetheless.
“Although women were initially at the forefront of IT, in 2023, only 22% of all tech jobs in Europe are filled by women, with that number in the Netherlands a shocking 17%,” stated Remco den Heijer, director at SAS Benelux. “We need to offer girls and women role models and start actively convincing them of the fun and interesting aspects of tech professions.”
Moreover, it is usually important to familiarise lecturers with know-how, in response to VHTO’s Yadegari. “Especially in primary schools, where the majority of teachers are women who don’t all feel comfortable with technology. They convey that feeling – unconsciously – to young girls. Therefore, it is crucial that both female and male teachers become comfortable with using digital technology and feel they can transfer that to their students.”
“We need to offer girls and women role models and start actively convincing them of the fun and interesting aspects of tech professions” Remco den Heijer, SAS Benelux
KPN’s Snoep agreed: “Our instructional group views many technological developments with suspicion and concern. I wish to name on everyone in training to embrace digitisation as a substitute. Take ChatGPT, for instance. Every faculty is terrified that college students will write their papers utilizing AI [artificial intelligence] and are attempting to do all the things they’ll to stop or prohibit it.
“But why not let your students experiment with this AI and teach them to find the mistakes made by the system? That way, it lets them learn to think for themselves about what is real and what is fake while introducing them to the possibilities of technology.”
Call for a brand new authorities marketing campaign
There can be an important function for the federal government to make technical research decisions and professions extra logical and enticing to girls, in response to Oracle’s Wasseur. “We know we are short of a huge number of people in a sector that is crucial to our future. That means we need to start at the grassroots, with young girls, and make them aware that engineering is also suitable for them,” she stated.
Meanwhile, digital literacy has formally gained a everlasting place within the Dutch curriculum. Unfortunately, it’s going to take time earlier than all of the educating supplies are prepared and it’s embedded in training. Yadegari spoke on Girls’ Day with main and secondary training minister Dennis Wiersma, who was on a working go to to technical companies supplier Kuijpers in De Meern.
“I think Girls’ Day will remain necessary for a few more years, but hopefully, we can make significant strides in the coming years so that it will eventually become obsolete” Sahar Yadegari, VHTO
“The government needs to play an accelerating role in countering gender stereotypes in engineering education,” stated Yadegari.
Moreover, there may be additionally a process for the business itself, as a result of even in engineering and IT, stereotype communication is commonplace, though usually not even consciously. “There are companies presenting themselves as ‘move fast, break things’, or using only pictures of men in almost all their communication,” stated Yadegari. “As an industry, we need to do much more to become more attractive to women.”
But the business has made strides on this regard, in response to Kyndryl’s Smith. “I have come across more and more women in technical positions in recent years. Having more women in an organisation also enhances the atmosphere for other women. So, it is not only important to attract women, but it can also help you retain your female talent,” she stated.
Asked about their ideally suited picture in 10 years’ time, nearly all organisations had been unanimous: an equal distribution of males and girls within the office and in technical professions.
Yadegari shares this ambition. “I think Girls’ Day will certainly remain necessary for a few more years, but hopefully, we can make significant strides, both in government and in the education and technology sectors, in the coming years so that it will eventually become obsolete.”
