Lessons from 100 women with STEM expertise

“Le 100 esperte STEM vanno a scuola” is a project whose name refers to a series of webinars for schools and schoolchildren featuring, as guest speakers, 100 women with STEM expertise. It is funded by Fondazione Bracco and Deascuola (a textbook publisher) and is aimed at teachers, primary school pupils and secondary school students.

Its aim? The purpose of the project is to raise awareness both of the principles of gender equality and of the career opportunities that are available for women who enter the sciences.

In conjunction with Deascuola (a leading Italian school textbook publisher), we are inaugurating the first in a series of talks in a project called “Le 100 esperte STEM vanno a scuola” [Lessons from 100 women with STEM expertise]. The purpose of the project is to make teachers and their male and female pupils aware of the opportunities and prospects that await those who enter the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Recently identified by the Ministry of Education as a national educational priority, the study of STEM subjects not only opens the way to a career in the science professions, but also furthers the cause of gender equality.

The question of gender equality remains highly topical, as attested by the recent “She Figures” data prepared by the European Commission and Almalaurea, which reveal how much, even now, stereotyping and obstacles stand in the way of many girls and young women, and condition their choice of subjects. This situation persists even though companies and institutions are on the search for people with the sort of technical-scientific training needed to lead the energy transition and deal with the challenges of the future.

The project, which launched on 26 January, comprises four afternoon seminars (free of charge) for teachers, one for each letter of the acronym STEM, and two morning classroom meetings with students.

Hosting the meeting are female scientists selected from the portal "100 donne contro gli stereotipi” [100 women against stereotypes], itself a project jointly created by Osservatorio di Pavia (a university media analysis and research body) and Giulia Giornaliste (an association of women journalists), and developed by Fondazione Bracco with the aim of giving voice and visibility to female expertise in various specialist fields, while recognizing and appreciating female professionals who can act as media role models and standard bearers for young people.

In the course of the meetings, these professional women will talk about their educational background and choices, their current projects, the decisions, mistakes, successes and the joy of their work, and in so doing offer practical tools and tips that can then be used to in the classroom to inspire students, girls as well as boys.

You can find the complete programme at the link below: www.deascuola.it/100esperte