The International Day of Girls in ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) was celebrated on 26 April with multiple activities around the world, and Uruguay was no exception. Several organisations sought, through experiential workshops, to spread enthusiasm for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among Uruguayan girls. The Inter-institutional Roundtable of Women in Science, Technology and Innovation presented data that "clearly shows the low participation of women in STEM areas, both at the educational and employment levels", and proposes to work together to reverse this situation.
In the document "Keys to development", the inter-institutional roundtable - coordinated by the Office of Planning and Budget (OPP) - presents an analysis of 2017 data provided by the Council of Secondary Education (CES), which shows "differences between males and females in the decision about educational orientation". These data show that at the fifth year of high school, women are in the majority, with more than 60%, in the arts and expression, biological and humanistic orientations, while in the scientific orientation their participation drops to 40%. The difference is accentuated in the choice they make in the last year of the baccalaureate: 45% follow the agricultural sciences option, while only 34% opt for the physics-mathematics (engineering) orientation.
The analysis also clarifies that at the level of professional technical education, in the UTU's orbit, "differences are observed in the way in which men and women are distributed" and points out: "Women participate to a lesser extent than men, the opposite situation to what happens in secondary education, although with a marked segregation by area". In this sense, he indicates that Industry, Computer Science and Production have the lowest presence of women, "while, at the other extreme, in Services and Commerce, Arts and Humanities, and Administration, women make up more than half of the student body".
Figures on women in STEM in university education and in the world of work follow the same trend, with women being under-represented compared to men.
In view of these data, the inter-institutional roundtable understands that "progress in the development of policies and actions is essential". To this end, it is considered necessary that the organisations, among other measures, begin to "develop actions to make women linked to STEM areas and their contributions visible, which contribute to their recognition and promote female role models in areas that can contribute to encouraging girls and adolescents to choose to pursue studies and occupational orientations in STEM".
They also suggest that there should be initiatives to "promote the participation of girls and adolescents in STEM areas, from a creative role that transcends the user level and allows them to know their potential from their own practice".
Playing to learn
To promote participation, different organisations took the International Day of Girls in ICTs as a way to make women's work more visible. One of several activities was organised at the home of the National Youth Institute (Inju) between Girls in Tech and the Ministries of Education and Culture (MEC), Social Development (Mides), and Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM). Throughout the day, tables were open so that girls from schools and high schools, as well as the general public, could participate in games and interactive activities.
Noel Hernández, from the MEC's National Directorate of Education, told the newspaper that it was organised in this way to ensure "that girls have more direct contact with technology, that they discover possible vocations in the field and thus increase the number of women in related careers". Natalia Rehermann, from Girls in Tech, said it was "an awareness-raising day" that sought to "show what is being done in technology and that they can see themselves doing it".
The tables included a presentation by MIEM on energy care, which encouraged the girls to develop research tasks in their schools. On the other hand, workshop participants from MEC Centres showed how the Butiá robot works, with open software and hardware, which can be programmed from a ceibalita. Opposite, it was possible to test sensors - the parts that tell the robot what actions to carry out - and at these tables, it was also possible to get into the world of programming.
The day at Inju had two central workshops: one on gender, led by specialists from Mides, and another on video game music, led by a Uruguayan professional in the field, in which girls from several high schools created their own music track.
The Faculty of Engineering of the University of the Republic also hosted several groups of teenagers in various workshops: "Map your world" offered them the opportunity to integrate elements in maps; "Electrifying workshop" allowed them to experiment with circuits and robots, and, as in Inju, the activity was carried out with the Butiá robot.
Source: La Diaria
Connect