“I’m interested in technology”: How women’s underrepresentation in science affects young women

“When I started taking in-person classes Information Engineering There was a pause, and the truth hit me: 7 girls in a class of 50, more than 10 programming teachers and only one woman. My grades dropped, I didn’t want to be in class like I used to, and so on Try “What I had was lost.”

This phrase is part of the story Martina de JesusA young woman 20 years Interest in programming, serialization #ActiváTusIdeas Organizing Committee TED-Ed Clubs Y UNICEF ArgentinaThat is the series of conferences Infobay Exclusively publishing to think and think about today’s new generation. What is yours? Challenges And this Motivational activities They find ways to overcome obstacles.

Martina feels the same as thousands of young women in Argentina and around the world Minority In the intervals of STEM careers (Abbreviations for collections of parts in English Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)

In Argentina Women are the majority in the university systemHowever the statistics UNICEF Although 6 in 10 young adults express an interest in science and technology-related topics, the female demographic is underrepresented. Only 34% of all STEM students. And in programming, participation declines 17% students.

These statistics extend to the region Latin America And this CaribbeanWhere Only 34.6% of STEM graduates are women.

After overcoming obstacles The gender gap Anesthetizing is imposed on women who want to enter the tech world — and rethink their careers — Martina Today he tells his story to encourage For other youngsters who doubt or question whether the computing and programming universe is for them Increasingly equal spaces And diverse technology is over-represented.

to 7 years, Martina was a fan of a popular online children’s game that offered a virtual world where you could interact, buy clothes, items, upgrade players’ houses and more, but she needed hard coins to do so. Immersed myself in internet searching for information, reading, watching videos and following Exercises. With effort and not fully understanding the process, he managed Hack the game Achieve your virtual wealth goal. This experience showed him how Technology Can be a powerful problem-solving tool.

At the age of 15, he participated in a programming course where he created several prototypes: a Mobile application to reduce environmental pollution Creating healthy habits in users, a website ESI features for teenagers, and a robot to clean up polluted rivers. “My head exploded, and of course, technology was being used not just to solve everyday problems, but to solve much bigger problems,” he recalls excitedly.

In 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, he started studying Information Engineering Almost realized it was his passion. But when the course moved head-on, The The gender gap was clear: Of the 50 students in the course, only 7 are women, and of the programming teachers, only 10% are professors.

There are many reasons for these gaps, among them, the are identical Gender issues related to mathematics, science and technology, the lack of circulation of information and the design logic of science and technology jobs and the absence of female references in the fields STEM.

Lack of peers and Notes The same gender affects students and how Martina experienced this: “I didn’t realize until that moment What does it mean to be a woman in this world of computing?. My grades dropped, I wasn’t as motivated as I used to be, and part of my motivation was lost.

Apps and digital tools are an example of how the lack of female representation in programming influences Gender perspective. We all rely on cell phone GPS to tell us how to get to a place quickly, but Martina says that in her first days at school, in dark and muddy areas, the app couldn’t warn her of which paths were more likely. Dangerous for her. Because she is a young woman who knows that traveling alone at night involves danger.

UNICEF states that gender equality means that women, men, girls and boys should enjoy the same rights, resources equally. opportunities Y Safeguards: “Equality of girls and adolescents is everyone’s responsibility.”

The voices of the new generation clearly reveal how the gender gap in science and technology is being imposed Barrera For the profession, this doesn’t stop progress, but makes the path more rocky: “I found it hard to accept that there are problems with this subject that I’m so passionate about. Until we are 7 out of 50 women In classrooms, “Technology will never adequately represent us”Martina in a nutshell.

The good news is that young women today are encouraged and with that spirit invite others to walk the path of science, twisting and dizzying, but undoubtedly excited, this 20-year-old woman points out: “I understood that recognizing it. They are not so good is the first step to start changing them. Because Yes, technology can change the world but first you have to change it.