The Universitat de València has presented the Girls4STEM project, a proposal born on the Engineering Technical School (ETSE) of the Universitat de València to promote, from the institution, the participation of women in career in the STEM ambit (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)

In a ceremony held at the Assembly Hall of the Office of the Principal on October 22nd, the project coordinator, Silvia Rueda, presented the project on behalf of the group of professionals in these branches that comprise Girls4STEM.  Participating in the presentation were the Principal of the university, Mª Vicenta Mestre, the vice-Principal of the Office for Equality, Diversity and Sustainability, Elena Martínez, and the general director of the Institut Valencià de les Dones i per la Igualtat de Gènere (Valencian Institute for Women and Gender Equality), María Such. The ceremony was also attended by the Deputy Director for Formació del Professorat (Teacher Training), Carlos Sánchez, and the Directora general  d’Universitats (General Director of Universities of the Valencian Government) Pilar Ezpeleta, as well as the Equality Unit, the Scientific and several members of the Board of directors of the Universitat.

Girls4STEM is a project “aimed at promoting STEM vocations, specifically among girls, through activities that combine dissemination and leisure”.  It is, according to its promoters, “a collaborative and inclusive project” with two major values: on the one hand, the pre-university body (Primary, Secondary, High School and Formative Cycles) and, on the other, the community of STEM Experts.  Through its involvement, and through pleasant and dynamic lectures, it is intended that the non-specialized public becomes interested and knows the scientific innovations in the STEM field. On top of that, these lectures allow another of the objectives of the project, which is to increase the visibility of women within these areas of knowledge traditionally perceived as “masculine”.

During her speech, the vice-Principal, Elena Martinez, announced the origin of this initiative and advocated to the importance of having projects such as Girls4STEM to counteract stereotypes to which girls are subjected from a very young age; the coordinator, Silvia Rueda, highlighted the large gap between men and women in the ICT sector and engineering, the “wasted” potential due to this gap and the significance of existing references for girls and young women; For her part, the General Director, María Such, congratulated the UV on the initiative and valued the project since, she assured, “the universality of education does not guarantee equal opportunities or real equality between men and women”; and the Principal, Mª Vicenta Mestre, called on girls and young women to believe in themselves and study what they want, overcoming gender stereotypes in historically masculine professional fields such as STEM.