Building the future of Latin America: Engaging women into STEM

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Building the future of Latin America: engaging women into STEM Funding: European Union. ERASMUS + Capacity-building in Higher Education Call for proposals EAC/A05/2017 Project type: European Coordinator: University of Salamanca Project leader: Francisco J. García Peñalvo Partners: Universidad del Norte Oulu University Politecnico di Torino Technological University Dublin Nothern Regional College Tecnológico de Monterrey Universidad de Guadalajara Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica Universidad de Costa Rica Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja Universidad Técnica del Norte Reference: 598923-EPP-1-2018-1-ES-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP Time: 15/01/2019 to 14/01/2022 Budget: 862.268€ Abstract: The participation of Women in STEM in the Latin-America region is a very complex problem in which necessarily call for actions from different actors, such as governments, private sector, families, as well the different levels of education (since childhood to higher education). In order to make concrete contribution, Higher Education Institutions need to focus on those needs and situations in which it has certain influence for making real progress, such as: Significant minority of Women choose and access to STEM programs at tertiary level. The lowest rates appears in science and engineering programs. Data is scarce, showing a need for analytical and systematic methods, which reflect actual participation of women in STEM at HEIs. Tertiary studies with a high math component such as STEM seem to be excluded from the studies options by girls in secondary schools. Lack of bridges between public policy and institutional actions led by HEIs. In this way, and aligned to the Erasmus + Capacity Building priority for improving management and operation of higher education, in terms of access to and democratization of Higher Education, the W‐STEM Project aims at Improving strategies and mechanisms of attraction, access and guidance of Women in Latin-American STEM Higher Education programs. For achieving this main objective, W-STEM project, will Measure the gender equality in enrolment and retention rates in STEM programs. Implement Universities’ policies, strategies and organizational mechanisms for improving attraction, access and guidance at undergraduate levels in STEM programs. Promote STEM studies vocation and choice in girls and young women in secondary schools as well as guidance in the first year of the STEM program. Develop an online training package for Higher Education Institutions to implement effective strategies to enhance attraction, access and guidance of Women in STEM programs.

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    Reporte mentorías UTPL
    (W-STEM Consortium, 2022-07-17) Cuevas, S.
    El fomentar la participación de las mujeres en las carreras STEM es uno de los objetivos del proyecto W-STEM. El documento busca describir de una forma clara las etapas necesarias para el desarrollo de la mentorías, para lo cual se ha dividido en tres etapas: a) Etapa de planificación en la cual se describen las actividades previas al desarrollo de la mentoría; b) Etapa de desarrollo de las mentorías, en la cual se describirán las actividades que se desarrollaron con las mentoras y mentorizadas durante el semestre, y finalmente c) Etapa final, en la cual se describirán las acciones futuras que se han planificado para dar sostenibilidad al programa de mentorías. En cada uno de los apartados se describe un ejemplo de una universidad lo que permitirá una mejor comprensión del presente documento y de la forma en la cual se debe presentar el informe de cada universidad del consorcio.
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    Attraction Campaigns to Increase the Participation of Women in Engineering Programs at Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar
    (W-STEM Consortium, 2022-07-17) Contreras-Ortiz, S. H.; Ojeda-Caicedo, V. V.; Duncan, E.; Osorio Del Valle, C.; Villa, J. L.
    The low participation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, is considered a critical issue in our society. It limits women's career prospects and affects the quality of science and engineering projects. The Faculty of Engineering student population at Universidad Tecnológica de Bolivar is composed of only 29% female. To reduce the gender gap, the W-STEM project team developed several activities in 2020 to attract women to the faculty of Engineering, and this poster presents the most important results of these activities.
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    Teaching robotics education with a gender focus through a robotics course with Arduino: a study case in Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
    (W-STEM Consortium, 2022-07-17) Cano, S.
    In the context of W-STEM European project, a case study was applied on the teaching of educational robotics with a gender approach is presented, which is offered as a free course for schoolteachers, with participants from different countries, such as Chile and Colombia. The design of the course is focused on the interests of the female gender and following the project-based methodology, where every week classes were given virtually for a period of 2 hours. 64 students approved the course, of whom 61% were women.
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    Attraction activities of W-STEM program implementing for the Universidad Tecnica del Norte team
    (W-STEM Consortium, 2022-07-16) Tobar, L. M.; Proaño, V.; Gámez, B.; Ramirez, C.; Caraguay, J.; Vasquez, C.
    Currently there is a great movement to encourage women to choose careers related to the fields of science and technology, since, by different factors historically this gender has had very little representation in these areas of knowledge. In this poster, we present the main results of the activities related to UTN Attraction Campaigns during 2020 within W-STEM project context. It is important to underline that Internet connection was the biggest problem during COVID-19 pandemic to develop the attraction campaigns.
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    Analysis of the strategies applied at Universidad del Norte to engage women into STEM
    (W-STEM Consortium, 2022-07-16) Camacho Díaz, A.; García Ramos, L.; PeñaBaena Niebles, R.; Díaz Vitola, L.
    n the last decade, the development of the STEM careers has carried the problematic of the gender gap. With the purpose of creating better strategies and mechanisms for the attraction, access, and orientation of women into the STEM field in Latin America, the W-STEM Project implemented attraction campaigns and dissemination activities where each partner designed strategies. However, those strategies must be analysed to measure their effectiveness and adapted to the new conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this poster, Uninorte presents the strategies implemented in the institution, analysing the three main axes of the action plan, as well as the advantages and disadvantages, aiming to create a better approach. In today’s world, there still is a gender gap in STEM occupations, fuelled by gender stereotypes and extra challenges faced when women enter a male-dominated workspace. According to the World Economic Forum, female students and employees are under-represented in STEM related fields, with less than a third of female students choosing to study higher educations’ courses in subjects like math and engineering. In fact, only around 30% of the world’s researches are women and those working in the STEM field publish less and often receive less pay. This is a worldwide problematic but can be affected by other aspects like the development of the country in matter. In Latin America and the Caribbean, only 5 of the 33 countries analysed have human development index considered as ‘high’, according to UNESCO. Which leads us to pay special attention to the mater in those countries.
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    Attraction campaigning of W-STEM program implementing for the Universidad de Guadalajara team
    (W-STEM Consortium, 2022-07-16) Retamoza Vega, P. R.; Tores Ramos, S.; Fajardo Robledo, N. S.; Neri Cortés, C.; Rodríguez Betancourtt, V. M.; Pérez Carrillo, L. A.
    According to the Global Gender Gap Report, gender parity is crucial in a prosperous society and in a growing economy, and even though this gender parity has been improved in several areas around the world, there is still a gender gap in the educational field, specifically in disciplines such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), where globally only 35% of STEM students in higher education are women. To help reduce this gender gap, many organizations and projects, like STEM and Gender Advancement - SAGA, W-STEM, Technovation Girls, among others, have been focused on providing encouragement and role models to women, and to reduce gender stereotypes.
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    Attracting Women to STEM at UCR
    (W-STEM Consortium, 2022-07-16) Romero Chacón, R. M.; Marín Raventós, G.; de Lemos Medina, L.; Trejos Zelaya, J.; Vásquez Soto, C.
    In Costa Rica, there are currently many initiatives for reducing the gender gap in STEM, however it is necessary to strengthen, systematize and link them so that the desired effect can be achieved. Admission processes at our university are complex and require the participation of different instances. However, we have found a lot of willingness and desire to collaborate with the W-STEM project. It is vitally important to position this issue in the media, for this it is necessary to establish a communication strategy that includes the visibility of the work carried out by scientists and technologists in our country and the region.
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    Campañas de atracción W-STEM. Caso de la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja
    (W-STEM Consortium, 2022-07-16) Equipo W-STEM de Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja
    En este documento se resumen las actividades realizadas en UTPL, como parte de las campañas de atracción dentro del proyecto W-STEM. El objetivo de estas campañas es estimular y fomentar el conocimiento profundo acerca de los temas de las carreras STEM en los grupos de chicas seleccionados.
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    Campañas de atracción W-STEM. Caso de la Universidad Técnica del Norte
    (W-STEM Consortium, 2022-07-16) Equipo W-STEM de la Universidad Técnica del Norte
    El capítulo W-STEM UTN del Proyecto Internacional ERASMUS WSTEM “Building the future of Latin America: engaging women into STEM” dentro del marco de Campañas de Atracción se identificaron varias etapas en el desarrollo de las actividades
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    Campañas de atracción W-STEM. Caso de la Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar
    (W-STEM Consortium, 2022-07-16) Equipo W-STEM de la Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar
    Las mujeres están subrepresentadas en ciencia, tecnología, ingeniería y matemáticas (STEM) en todo el mundo. A pesar de los avances logrados en el aumento de la tasa de matrícula de estudiantes mujeres en la educación superior, la brecha de género en los campos STEM persiste y empeora a medida que aumenta el nivel de educación [2]. Actualmente, solo el 35% de los estudiantes STEM son mujeres. Reducir esta brecha se ha convertido en una prioridad en el mundo por varias razones. Los campos STEM ofrecen grandes oportunidades profesionales para las mujeres; La igualdad de género puede mejorar la calidad de la investigación y la innovación y contribuir a la productividad y la innovación en los proyectos de ingeniería. La Facultad de Ingeniería de la Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar (UTB) cuenta con 11 programas de ingeniería, y en 2018 se inscribieron 3.773 estudiantes. Solo el 29% eran mujeres. Los programas con menos estudiantes mujeres fueron ingeniería mecánica (10%), ingeniería de sistemas (11%), ingeniería mecatrónica (12%) e ingeniería electrónica (14%). Con base en estos datos, el equipo W-STEM ende UTB desarrolló varias actividades para atraer mujeres a la Facultad de Ingeniería, especialmente a los programas con mayores brechas de género, dentro del proyecto europeo Building the future of Latin America: engaging women into STEM (W-STEM).