시역_여성교육_조아람

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Ms Mariya Gabriel delivers an opening speech at the "Women and Girls in STEM Forum

(1477words)

Oct 26, 2022

Glossary

1.     Women and Girls in STEM Forum,(이공계 여성 포럼)

2.     Girls Go circular initiative: 걸스 고 서큘러 이니셔티브 (음차)

3.     Brussels : 브뤼셀

4.     the European Commission : 유럽위원회

5.     Marie Skłodowska-Curie(마리 퀴리)

6.     Women TechEU : (음차) 이니셔티브

7.     the Girls and Women ESTEAM Fests : ESTEAM 여성 축제

8.     the STEAM Manifesto : STEAM 성명서

9.     the European Strategy for Universities : 유럽 대학 전략

Dear friends,

I am so glad to be here, opening the second Women and Girls in STEM Forum,(이공계 여성 포럼) this time in person.

I am particularly grateful to take part in the forum, as this has been longstanding a personal cause for me, and I know that it is also for many of you. Many of you remember growing up, being interested in STEM, and having a role model. And you may also have experienced feeling less welcome in fields that have been boys clubs for too long.

When we look back at those experiences, we see the paramount importance of community– for better and for worse. We are inspired by people around us. They so often drive our curiosity forward. And if they are not there, if there is no welcoming environment – then all our challenges are harder.

Which brings me to today's event. I am so happy to see we are joined by many teachers and students today, from Girls Go Circular and beyond, both in Brussels(브뤼셀) and online.

This community keeps growing, inspiring young women and girls to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

So I will begin my speech with a few words on the development of the Girls Go circular initiative and its community. I will then share with you my vision on how to take further the support to women and girls in STEM.

Since the first Forum, last year, we have accomplished a lot. Just in 2022, the Girls Go Circular initiative trained close to 3,000 girls in digital and entrepreneurial competences across 15 countries in Europe.

They joined a total of 14,000 students and teachers, who participated in the online learning programme, completing modules on the circular economy, from metals and plastics to sustainable fashion.

We also added 5 new learning modules to Girls Go Circular, and we made sure the programme reaches even more girls, translating all training material into three new languages – Slovenian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian.

The more people we support, the stronger our community great, the more power to all of us. This is our ultimate goal: to empower more girls to pursue their dreams of becoming a scientist, a computer engineer, mathematician, or an entrepreneur.

Because there is still a big gender gap in many STEM fields. We know that young girls are just as interested in STEM as boys. And yet women account only for 2 out of 5 scientists and engineers, despite being a majority of tertiary graduates in the EU. In ICT, the situation is even more worrying, with only 18% of ICT specialist jobs are held by women.

This is not only a matter of equal opportunities. We saw how important it was to have people with digital skills during the digital innovation wave. We are now on the cusp of a new innovation wave – deep tech. Europe has it all to thrive in, as long as all talents can contribute. I mean we cannot trust only a fraction of our talent to push us over the finish line.

A sprinter would not run the 100 meters with their legs tied together. A doctor would not perform surgery with a hand tied behind their back. Europe cannot surf this innovation wave, which will be determinant to so many important challenges, especially climate change, without half its amazing, talented people. 

In fact, studies indicate that closing the gender gap in STEM could lead to GDP growth of up to 820 billion euro by 2050.

This is why this community is so important.

When it comes to the educational context, we know girls perform less well when their teachers have gender biases. And we know that gender stereotypes instilled from an early age can have an influence on their choice of tertiary education.

We may not be able to instantly protect every girl and woman from every instance of bias and stereotyping. But if we help them with positive role-models giving visibility to women talents, we can build resilience for when they are confronted with them.

So, this leads me to my second point for today. How can we do this, and how can the European Commission(유럽위원회) support you and empower you to support and empower girls across the EU?

My vision is in three facets. We need role models in STEM and ICT, we need to connect ICT and STEM to the societal challenges we face, and we need to make our voice loud.

First, we need role models in STEM and ICT, inspiring girls and supporting women already working in the innovation ecosystem.

Within my portflio, I have launched  concrete instruments, such as Researchers at Schools, bringing Marie Skłodowska-Curie(마리 퀴리) fellows to school to show how diverse scientists can be. We want to dispel stereotypes and provide young people with real examples, having real researchers sharing their passion and hopefully inspiring their audience to follow in their footsteps.

At the same time, we are also supporting adult women in these sectors. Last year, we launched Women TechEU, offering first-class coaching and mentoring to 50 promising female-led deep-tech start-ups.

Second, we need to make sure STEM is not just a puzzle to be solved, but is understood as a vehicle to tackle the many real world challenges.

Evidence suggests that adding real-world context to STEM fields can broaden their appeal. This is what we call the STEAM approach, adding A for the Arts, humanities and social sciences to STEM.

With the STEAM approach, STEM subjects are linked to political, environmental, socio-economic, and cultural contexts. This raises the visibility and social value of STEM professions, making these subjects more attractive to a wider audience, and notably to girls and women.

And this is exactly the approach of the Girls and Women ESTEAM Fests (ESTEAM 여성 축제) , another successful action under the Digital Education Action Plan.

During a two-day hybrid workshops, girls and women of all ages come together in a nurturing, positive environment to improve their digital and entrepreneurial competences.

They do so through interactive and hands-on workshops centred on real-world topics like how to build a small company, public speaking, financial literacy, coding and robotics, or designing digital tools.

So far we have organised three ESTEAM Fests and another two will take place by the end of this year, one for girls in Ireland and Malta and one for women in Greece. By the end of this 3-year project, at least 11 “ESTEAM Fests” will be organised in a total of 19 EU Member States.

And third, still putting emphasis on community, we want to make clear our goal. That is why we are launching the STEAM Manifesto(STEAM 성명서), part of a larger effort in the European Strategy for Universities (유럽 대학 전략) to boost gender balance in academic careers.

The Manifesto aims to define a set of principles and commitments for gender-inclusive STE(A)M education and careers, underwritten by schools, universities research and innovation institutions across Europe.

This will be a co-creative process and the first step for the development of the Manifesto has already been taken by launching a survey for all relevant stakeholders.

I would encourage all of you to participate!

Dear friends,

As you can see, empowering more girls in science and technology is a policy priority that I tackle via across my whole portfolio. From early childhood and school all the way to higher education and our innovation ecosystems, we need to make sure women and girls have everything they need to fulfil their potential.

This community means so much, your commitment, your energy, and your presence here today. You are doing so much. And all of you have proved every investment in you is worth every penny.

And so we are stepping up our efforts.

By 2024, we will make sure that girls in all 27 EU Member States can take the opportunity to improve their digital skills, reaching at least 40,000 girls by 2027.

And now I count on you to make it a success so that I can continue to advocate for even more.

Because as I said, we cannot face the future with a hand behind our back.

Now, I would like to end on the words of Marie Skłodowska–Curie(마리 퀴리)

“We (women) must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”

Marie Curie was a true trailblazer. She managed to do so much, even though there were so many barriers – even though there were no other Marie Curies to welcome her, to induct her, to mentor her. She was the exception that proved the terrible rule. That science was not a place where women could flourish.

With this community, we are acting to break this rule. Because we know that girls and women have powerful talents worth nurturing.

I wish you all a great day, with blossoming relationships and a lot of inspiration.

Thank you.