Impact analysis from the Erasmus+ KA2 project Analysis project... · Erasmus+ KA2 project . GirlsTech Impact analysis partner 1 (MBO Raad) and partner 4 (VHTO) ... Slovenian Code

Impact analysis

from the

Erasmus+ KA2 project

GirlsTech Impact analysis partner 1 (MBO Raad) and partner 4 (VHTO)

Date : June 2th 2018

Name : Lia Bleijenberg, VHTO en Mirjam Hensels en Pia Deveneijns (MBO Raad)

Country : the Netherlands

1. General Impact of the project Girlstech

Which of the good practice(s), the instruments, explained during the meetings was the

most inspiring practice, and for what reasons?

The most inspiring for us are the Estland Super hero’s (leadership skills for girls). That will be an

interesting new initiative towards the future female leadership positions in the STEM area. ’People like

me’ in the UK is of great interest because it can make some instruments more effective.

Concerning VET school in the Netherlands and their search for more female students in STEM the

Slovenian Code Catz, tutorial for beginners, is a good example the mbo-schools can implement as

long as they use also the principle that in these courses on coding girls are never a minority.

The Gender equality approach in early childhood education law in Finland is the best practice of a

structural way to improve gender-equality. It is an important goal in the curriculum.

The Spanish Inspira project is also a very inspiring project because of the structural and holistic

approach.

Which country in the project showed the best approach, and for which reasons is this the

best approach for you?

Maybe Estland and more specifically the Tech Sisters show a structural approach to inspire,

encourage and educate girls in technology. Also the WISE campaign has this structural approach.

Both Roemenia and Slovenia are good examples of working with a target on the equal participation of

girls and boy in general activities promoting STEM and ICT.

Spain showed us an interesting Values 4.0 approach that can help to change the teaching method in

order to make it more gender inclusive.

What did you learn from the project? Please try to identify the most important learning

experiences for you.

In all countries we have seen several organizations stimulating the participation of girls in STEM. The

good practices are showing various ways to attract girls. E.g. with the help of women working in STEM

as role models, projects focused on girls in order to make them familiar and self-confidential within the

STEM area. Most activities focus directly on girls and women themselves, to diminish the obstacles on

the learner level. In Spain (Values 4.0) and the Netherlands (genderscan at STEM education) we

have seen examples of interventions at the level of the educational approach and the institution. In

Finland we are impressed by the more structural approach. In teaching of teachers crafts is

compulsory, in the curriculum of early childhood education gender-equality is a goal.

The importance of the (former) political on the societal level and the gender equality is enormous as

we have learned in Roemenia and Estland.

2. Which of the good practices, explained during the meetings, can be applied in your

country?

Please explain (list reasons) why these good practices could be applied to the situation in

your country.

Please explain also if (parts of) good practice(s) which appear to be very positive can

nevertheless NOT be applied in your country. This can be for legal reasons or others.

The use of a quota can be applied by VET-schools in the field of promotional activities for boys and

girls. A quota on the participation to girls in STEM education maybe a good case but the use of quota

is not very popular in the Netherlands.

As in Finland we can strive to make gender-equality part of the VET curriculum,

In Estonia it is possible to enter STEM at any moment. In Estonia and Finland STEM is a compulsory

subject for everybody during a long period. In the Netherlands we could have the aim to make STEM

more compulsory till the end of secondary school.

We noticed in all participating countries al lot of good practices, but in all cases we miss a

comprehensive plan with overarching goals. On national level, or on school level.

3. Next step

What will be the next step in your country to improve the participation of girls/women in STEM areas?

Please explain (list of actions) what you are planning to do on national, regional or local

level.

Which stakeholders, or organizations , are you going to approach?

The next step is that VHTO continues the activities on the level of the educational system together

with VET-schools. All of the good practices on the learner-level we can propose to the schools to

adopt. We strive for more funding to implement and organize extra-curricular activities as career-

events and wise-yong women boards.

We will use the Unesco-model as a framework to analyse the subject, presented by the Spanish

partners, in our Boardmeetings “Meer meisjes in de Techniek” .

We will organize a national conference ’Meer meisjes in mbo Techniek’ on the14 September 2018.

On that conference we will disseminate the results of Girlstech, but we also will use the good practices

from other countries we’ve learned.

The national letter from the Dutch minister about Gender Equality (May, 2018) we will use in our

strategy to improve the rate of female students in the VET.

We will use the results in our next project (to be confirmed) to attract more female adults for technical

jobs.

GirlsTech Impact analysis partner 2 (Sataedu)

Date : 05062018

Name : Riitta Hirsikoski

Country : FINLAND




The VHTO: Gender Scan. It´s inspiring because it open eyes. There is so many hidden attitudes

and procedures which make roofs to girls career councelling. It´s kind of groundwork before the

other instruments. With gender scan our organizations get possibilities to become aware of reality.

We can be surprised. We can learn.



The Netherlands. There they approached the subject systematic and they have that National Plan.

Their instruments are simple to use and targets straight to the action.



I have learned that we need to do a lot if we want to fight against the segregation.

It can´t be solved in vocational field. We need more co-operation and attention in every

educational level. In the project it´s shown that we need more information to teachers and all

adults who work with children and youngsters. We need also interaction with parents.

It´s not the society which affects. So many things can be done (or not) in our daily life. – But we

can´t work if the subject is invisible. (Gender scan!)


country?


your country.

Spain: ADA+DIANA project

Diana is about programming. ADA is more general. The aim is to raise interest in technology subjects.

We think it would be important to start kind of projects in Finland, too. Those projects should be

offered by Goverment and they should be free. We think in Finland we need more projectS where

pupils can see that science and technology is fun. As in Spain, it´s important to get involved local

women who has their background in technology.

The Netherlands. Gender Scan.

Gender Scan. It´s an instrument which can be used in Finland. If necessary the instrument can be

modified.

Gender Awareness training. According to gender scan´s results it´s possible to plan the training. It´s a

good packet to start.

Slovenia “Day for girls”

In Finland we have every year National “Technology Tuesday”. It´s the day when pupils and teachers

from basic education meets the technology field. They and pupils parents can visit in industry and

companies. There is a lot of action. They offer not only actual information but also many interesting

actions. Pupils get possibilities to test machines and recognize new things.

As in Slovenia we could make the day more interesting to girls. We could pay more attention to girls.



Perhaps we can apply every instrument after modyfing! But all them seem not to be so interesting or

effective to Finnish society.

3. Next step

What will be the next step in your country to improve the participation of girls/women in STEM

areas?


level.


- Some co-operation with Women in Tech? We have very active WT in Finland, but no co-

operation. During the project we have opened co-operation with national “Girls you can”

project. That´s a beginning!

- Some ideas to national “Teknologia Tiistai” (the day with technology every November)

- The strategy paper?

- Gender Scan…we can make a pilot?

GirlsTech Impact analysis partner 3 (Association of Colleges)

Date : 5 June 2018

Name : Catherine Sezen

Country : UK








There were a number of examples of inspiring practice. Student demonstrations such as those in

Romania, Roxana and the First Lego League in Finland were the most impressive. Other instruments

were:

Out of school engagement activities were popular in many countries, such as Digi code and

Code Catz in Slovenia, ADA and DIANA projects in the Basque Country (Spain), Coderdojo and

HackTM in Romania. These activities were often aimed at girls in particular.

Female role models/ambassadors were also popular. In the Netherlands this was part of a

mentoring programme (instrument 4) and in a number of countries we met inspirational young

female role models, astro physicist in the Netherlands, a pilot in the Slovenian airforce.

Language and visuals used in advertising and promotion for course and staff. This first

came up during gender scanning in the Netherlands visit and was explored by Elaine from

Chichester College and Women in Science and Engineering (WISE). Girls respond better to

adjectives rather than verbs, visuals should include females in action as well as males. This was

taken a stage further in the Basque Country where the lifelong learning presentation suggested

that females respond better to project work and the concept of ‘making a difference’. It was also

explored during the First Lego League presentation where the team made a model of a water

desalination platform to ensure poorer countries have clean water for cooking and bathing.

In Finland and the Basque country the concepts of unconscious bias were touched upon by both

Sonja in her research and during the Lifelong learning presentation.

In Finland gender equality is embedded within curriculum planning – it is an expectation. This

starts at a young age within the pre-school and primary curriculum. In Finland students have to do

both textile and technical craft skills. They are not given a choice.

Other incidental learning included discussions on how best to retain women within the STEM

workforce and raising self-confidence, each country’s education system and the synergy

between employers and the technical school in Portugal including local network planning based on

skills gaps.

Perhaps most significant was a move towards considering whether projects should focus just

on girls, i.e. stressing difference, or on both/all genders to encourage STEM as the norm.


country?


your country.



All of the above, though I think there is some discussion about whether activities should be focused

only at females or both/all genders.

3. Next step


areas?


level.

Which stakeholders, or organizations, are you going to approach?

The seven UK colleges involved in the project have been undertaking activities to encourage more

females into STEM based subjects through exploring unconscious bias in promotional activities,

job descriptions and school engagement activities.

We plan to undertake dissemination events through AoC annual and curriculum conferences in

late autumn 2018.

AoC will meet with the STEM team at the Department for Education (DfE).

GirlsTech Impact analysis partner 6 (School Centre of Nova Gorica)

Date : 5. 6. 2018

Name :

Country : Slovenia




The most inspiring practice it was a Coder Dojo. Addressing the young children (6years ->) regardless

of gender, great percent of girls is motivated to developed their abilities in STEM area.



It is difficult to point out a particular country/approach, because they are quite similar. The best

approach seems to start including children in STEM activities at an early age (kindergarten, pre-

school education).



Early learning is crucial. Often the teachers must overcome the prejudice regarding sex in the first

place. Discovering strong points, encouraging both sexes to develop their abilities/potentials should be

teachers’ priority.


country?


your country.

The practices that do not require extra expenses, e.g. science oriented kindergarten, upgrading

activities throughout primary school - continuity.


nevertheless NOT be applied in your country. This can be for legal reasons or other.

Girls’ days - involves a lot of coordinating (in SLO it cannot be encouraged on the state level there is

no institution that could plan, organize and finance such activities.

3. Next step


areas?


level.

Reporting about good practices, suggesting ideas, offering solutions to primary school and

kindergarten headmasters and teaching staff.

Which stakeholders, or organizations , are you going to approach.

Locally - the National Institute of Education, Chambers of Craft and Economy.

On national level - National centre for vocational education, Ministry of education.

GirlsTech Impact analysis partner 7 (Forave)

Date : 5 de junho de 2018

Name : Escola Profissional FORAVE

Country : Portugal

Considering the main aim of Girls Tech Project, in our opinion, the approach and the reflection

made by all the participants took the discussion to the main points:

Attract more girls to stem;

Enlarge women career’s possibilities;

Recognize women in stem jobs and value their careers.

In the approach to the topic were considered three dimensions:

Social - cultural heritage, stereotypes, religion, social recognition.

Professional - wages, career progress, professional discrimination, working conditions,

parental rights, profissional role models, increase job shadowing and internship opportunities,

participating of the companies in the training.

Political - work a new curriculum, work logical thinking and programming at young ages, fight

discriminatory pedagogies, motivate students to technologies, invest in the teachers’ training.

We considered as the most relevant items the follow instruments and the good practices that

can help in the hard work of attracting girls to stem:

1. Work 4.0 values and define the knew profile of the upper secondary school student. Great part

of the skills needed are soft competences that girls already work better than boys, which can

empower them and make them more confident.

2. The new young generations must be prepared for the new jobs and for the market changes and

the school must change as well to be able to prepare new professional profiles.

3. Companies like Continental Automotive are fundamental for the turning point. They need to be

closer to school, participate in the training and have voice in the training decision making.

4. Programmes like ”Speed dates” and the “Mentoring Programme” can make the difference on

the motivation and vocational guidance of youngsters.

5. Inspiring models, female STEM professionals, female teachers in technologies are an important

source of inspiration.

6. Programmes like Superheroes, the coach programme to work teenage girls and empower them

with leadership and entrepreneurship skills appear also as very interesting tools because they

work self-confidence and self-esteem in very early ages.

7. Events like ”Day of girls”/ “The technical days” seems to be great opportunities to involve the

stakeholders: school, university, local authorities, companies, political representatives and put

the focus on the subject, resulting in big marketing campaigns.

Some of these inputs are already good practises in Forave and we have conditions to put more in action

due to the fact that we have a privileged relation with companies and with the partners and stakeholders

that make part of our local training network.

The Project brought valuable gains to FORAVE's educacional and training mission. We are more

inspired to bring new strategies to school to attract female students. This is reflected in our medium

action plan to attract more young people, specifically more girls to our vocacional courses. Our

marketing campaign developed along the last two years focused industry 4.0 and Girls Tech, as well as

the local education Network campaign that we helped to create.

We are also more aware of the changes that must occur in education and in the school for the 21st

century, in what concerns: fighting social discrimination, working stem at very young ages, developing

new competencies in the students and teachers, turning the school more transparant and participated

by the community.

GirlsTech Impact analysis partner 8 (Hariduskeskus)

Date :05.06.2018

Name :Jüri Puidet

Country :Estonia




Meetings in all places was very inspiring, Ambassador of the Technology Pact- Netherland was very

effective tool to attract Young girls with STEM. STEM Apprenticeship Diversity Toolkit because

consists some practical advice, Superheroes because really inspire girls to take challenges,

CoderDojo, MegaDojo, HackTM, Women in Tech to began coding for girls, First Lego League as a

starting coding



ROMANIA because lot of voluntary work to inspire girls.



It was amazing how much action take place to involve girls in STEM studies.


country?


your country.

STEM Apprenticeship Diversity Toolkit have to be adapted in ESTONIAN circumstances, there might

be ambassadors to inspire girls to take more STEM.



There is no such good practices can npot applied in Estonia

3. Next step


areas?


level.

To get informed publicity about problems in STEM involving girls and career

Starting more encouraging programs specially for girls

Special schools for groups to start programming for girls


Estoninan government

Ministry of education

Enterpreneurs

Trade Unions

Political parties

GirlsTech Impact analysis partner 9 (Eraiken)

Date : 3rd July 2018

Name : Juan Eduardo Iriondo

Country : Spain








In general it’s important the role of models. The best result of the meeting has been to know diverse

school systems and their approach to equality, a goal to be still maintained in most STEM schools of

Europe.

It was really inspiring the relationship between company (Continental) and VET school (Forave),

where students are another part of the enterprise, and gender equality more than promoted is a

common use.


country?


your country.



Best practices that can be applied are role models, and company reasons/proposals that will open

students’ minds.

The main reason not to apply a practice is economical, not only monetary but also workers hours to

employ in this subject.

3. Next step

What will be the next step in your country to improve the participation of girls/women in STEM areas?


level.


Thanks to the Lifelong Learning service we have joined a net for equality in companies and schools,

that is working at local and regional level.

Organizations:

AMPEA (Professional and Bussinesswomen in Alava).

AJEBASK (Young Bussinessmen and women in Basque Country).

Documents

Impact analysis from the Erasmus+ KA2 project Analysis project... · Erasmus+ KA2 project . GirlsTech Impact analysis partner 1 (MBO Raad) and partner 4 (VHTO) ... Slovenian Code