In Italy, the participation of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) educational and working paths is rather scarce. Many episodes of exclusion and discrimination affecting women in the scientific and technological sector can be ascribed to gender biases, according to which women would be less prone to studying STEM subjects and less competitive in IT and technological skills compared to men. Such stereotypes very often negatively influence girls’ school career choices from their first years in primary and secondary school. This project aims to bring girl students of primary and lower secondary schools closer to the scientific and technological culture through an innovative approach envisaging courses, lab activities, and experiments in the STEM subjects carried out within the schools in collaboration with qualified partner bodies.

http://www.pariopportunita.gov.it/materiale/brochure-multimediale-di-presentazione-delliniziativa-stem/

• Eastern Europe
• Western Europe and North America

• Youth
• Remote and rural communities

The initiative is characterized by its high degree of replicability. The planning of a summer camp which could have been replicable at national and international level was one of the assessment criteria of candidate schools. To this end, many Summer Camps are already designed to be implemented also the following years; furthermore, many schools used the funds provided by the Department for Equal Opportunities to purchase tangible properties and equipment (in particular personal computers, tablets, microscopes, robots, software, etc.), which can be used again for the re-organization of the summer camp and other similar initiatives. The publication of the initiatives carried out by the 208 schools on the official website of the Department for Equal Opportunities (See http://www.pariopportunita.gov.it/materiale/progetti-stem-dalle-scuole/) and the creation of local networks among schools will facilitate the re-organization of courses not only at the winning school but also at the other local schools, which could be encouraged to arrange summer camps. In addition, considering that 156 schools of the first edition have included the activities carried out during the summer in their annual training programmes, they will be able to replicate the methods already tested in Summer Camps in favour of all students, boys and girls, and to continue to combat gender stereotypes in science and technology.

By the innovative methods .