Women have been taking a relevant role in scientific communities, however, international indices reflect their low representation in these key scenarios.
Women have been taking a relevant role in scientific communities, however, international indices reflect their low representation in these key scenarios for economic and social development.
The UNESCO reports that only 35% of STEM students globally are women who opt for higher studies within the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
According to Harvard Business Review, 52% of women in STEM drop out of the scientific field. Reasons such as being the only woman in the team or extreme work pressure without flexibility, influence their decision, not counting gender stereotypes or prejudices since from a young age they are taught that they are not capable of certain disciplines and socially they do not like the areas of science as they are "more boys than girl’s things."
An Inclusive Education
Science is genderless and female participation in it is not just a social issue. When there are women in the working groups, issues are explored with different perspectives since knowledge is enriched with inclusion.
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For the Coordinator of Management and Communications of the Laudes Infantis Foundation, Paola Peña García, “women have the reference of care professions as the best option… women should have the option of deciding which profession to study. For example, from school, you have to motivate them to be part of programming workshops like Google does with Made Code with Google, a program that invites girls to program and experience how women can animate a movie like Toy Story, or simply meet women leaders in the technology industry.”
Making Better Decisions
Analytics, one of the branches of engineering that is transforming business and the economy, is in need of women to lead projects for the benefit of business management and better decision-making.
It can be concluded that at the global level the need has emerged to create inclusive strategies to close the gender gap in scientific professions. In Colombia, for example, the STEAM Alliance for female talent ‘Girls standing for Science', is an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training aimed at promoting STEAM vocations in girls and young women. The Laudes Infantis Foundation, for its part, creates programs to promote educational and economic opportunities for women with limited resources through ICT. Google promotes entrepreneurship for women with programs such as Made Code With Google, for training in STEAM careers”. In Latin America and other countries, there are projects with Power to Code, Geek & Tech, Geek Girls Latam, Women Teck, among others.
"There are countless analytical tools that can be used, but it is important for women entrepreneurs to be proactive when creating a company and see the importance of an online presence," says Paola Peña.
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