Land girls in STEM are still few. They don’t know them, they don’t think they are suitable. And it’s a real shame. It was born to bring them closer to these paths Girls Code it Better, a free initiative in primary and secondary schools which allows girls to test themselves with projects designed and created by themselves. Schools can register until May 28. But companies can do it too, to support the project by “adopting” a school.
Two girls get to know STEM through an activity with Girls Code it Better.
Costanza Turrini, creator and manager of Girls Code it Better (an initiative of the Officina Futuro Fondazione W-Group) explains: «In each participating school we make a presentation for families and students. Then the girls apply, and we draw 20-25 for each institution. We think that drawing lots is the best system, otherwise the teachers send us the best ones, and that’s not what we want. Ours is not a project for talents, on the contrary. We urge schools to motivate the most fragile ones, the most disoriented to participate, and to discover their talent with us. The mix that emerges from the draw is ideal». In nine years, 10,000 girls have been involved in 156 schools in 90 cities.
The activities take place in the afternoon at school, once a week, from November for a total of 45 hours. To coordinate, 1 internal teacher and an external coach. There are no transmission lessons, and above all Girls Code it Better «is not a coding course, because there you just learn to program», Turrini clarifies. «With us, however, land girls learn to solve a concrete problemusing technology, in all its phases: conception, design, construction and closure.
Girls and Stem: the important thing is to have more options
It starts from a general theme, close to the 2030 agenda: «For example, with the input “build something that supports school well-being, inside and outside the school”, they created new common spaces with the 3D printer. Electronic boards are used for robotics, design, modeling and 3D printing are carried out, websites are created through Web Design and Web Development, augmented reality is used».
The work is concrete, the girls feel they are protagonists. And as they go on, maybe they discover that they are good at designing, at programming, at managing a team or even at presenting a project in public. To each his own talent.
But is there any feedback on the results of Girls Code it Better?: «Yes», explains Turrini. «We did a research on the last 4 years and it emerged that already after a cycle of activity with us the girls begin to think of themselves in roles they hadn’t imagined. The project was born to mitigate gender stereotypes. What matters is that girls have as many options as possible for their future, that they don’t feel limited in their orientation, that they test themselves where they prefer. Without preconceptions».
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