Lisbon, Portugal, 19 February 2024 — An innovative hands-on STEM learning event, aimed to inspire 200 middle-school girls, is taking place in Lisbon on 24 February 2024 to bridge the gender gap in STEM. International non-profit greenlight for girls (g4g) is working with Microsoft Portugal and Pavilhão do Conhecimento - Centro Ciência Viva to pave the way to encourage more young women to enter STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) studies and careers. According to the United Nations, ‘significant gender gap has persisted throughout the years at all levels of STEM disciplines all over the world and despite a shortage of skills in most of the technological fields, women still account for only 28% of engineering graduates and 40% of graduates in computer science and informatics.’ Gender stereotypes and gender bias are driving girls and women away from pursuing careers in science-related fields (World Economic Forum).
“To make an impact in encouraging more young women to study science and technology subjects, we need to show them the relevance and opportunity that these subjects bring to their future,” explains Melissa Rancourt, Founder and Board President of greenlight for girls.
“The g4g day is an awe-inspiring learning event that encourages young girls to be future STEM adventurers. By introducing role-models in these fields and creating ways to spark their curiosity and joy in learning these subjects, we can create a transformational experience that will impact their future. To do so, we need the passion and expertise of incredible partners: Microsoft and the Pavilhão do Conhecimento - Centro Ciência Viva and their teams are just the ones to make this happen.”
Mayte Cubino Gonzalez, Director of Support Engineering at Microsoft, shares her vision and how the Microsoft team in Lisbon is helping to lead the way,
“Through my experience with g4g, I have seen the ways these events light up the eyes of the girls who attend. With the innovation and expertise of our engineers at Microsoft, we wanted to share our passions and stories to encourage these STEM professionals of the future. These events cross-links pillars of education, STEM, sustainability, and inclusion – all of which are our focus at Microsoft. We look forward to working together to introduce our role models and knowledge to the young women in Lisbon this Saturday.”
The month of February brings these two important global awareness-raising days: the International Day of Girls and Women in Science and Safer Internet Day. This Lisbon event addresses both issues for girls and their families with 12 workshops that include topics such as: Robotics, Coding, Gaming, Biodiversity, Solar Energy, Biology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Self-care – all with a creative and artistic approach structured specifically to enable skill-building and expertise sharing while demonstrating the fun in science and technology through hands-on workshops and activities. In addition, the Microsoft team will be holding a parallel learning workshop for parents to address ways to create a safer digital environment at home. All of these workshops are being led by more than 50 role models and will be held in the inspirational science center of the Pavilhão do Conhecimento - Centro Ciência Viva.
Ana Noronha, Executive Director at Ciência Viva, says,
“We are thrilled to invite these 200 girls to our Science Center. Our motto is to inspire and mobilize through science and we work with schools and associations to do just this – working with g4g & Microsoft is a great opportunity to bring science learning to our community.”
The g4g day in Lisbon is open for registration, while places are still available. We encourage all communities and learning abilities to join this event.
“Our g4g days positively impact girls all around the world and more than 90% of the participants tell us they will now study STEM after attending these events. We can’t wait to see what inventions and creative ideas for their future arises with these girls in Lisbon.” shares Melissa.
Background Links: International Day of Women and Girls in Science | United Nations Women in Science | UNESCO UIS Women in STEM in the European Union – Facts and Figures - (esthinktank.com) 3 things to know about women in STEM fields, according to UN | World Economic Forum (weforum.org) Safer Internet Day 2024 – Together for a better internet - European Commission (europa.eu) global Impact Project — greenlight for girls
About greenlight for girls: The greenlight for girls’ organization is an international non-profit registered in Belgium and as well as a registered 501c3 organization in the United States. Their mission is to encourage children of any age and any background, with a particular focus to girls, to pursue STEM subjects by introducing them to the world of science in fun and exciting ways. They envision a balanced world where girls (& boys) from any nation and of any age know they have the possibility and choice to enter the world of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The organization has reached 60,000 girls and young women with a network of 13,000 STEM professionals and mentors with more than 500 face-to-face events in over 39 countries since its inception, impacting these future STEM leaders to start or continue their pursuit of these subjects and careers. For press enquiries, please contact info@greenlightforgirls.org.
About Microsoft: Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
About the Pavilhão do Conhecimento - Centro Ciência Viva: Pavilhão do Conhecimento- Ciência Viva Centre is a space for the dissemination of science and technology. It is part of a network of 21 Ciência Viva Centers throughout the country. Its mission is to promote of science and technology education in Portuguese society
