E-REDES and Portuguese Women in Tech (PWIT) launched, this Tuesday, 23 November, a campaign to inspire and motivate future women aged 10 to 18 to pursue careers in the fields of technology and engineering
The launch event, which took place at the Electricity Museum, was attended by several professionals from the sector and with the presence of Rosa Monteiro, Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality.
«The Future Portuguese Women in Tech project Powered by E-REDES intends to contribute to a greater gender balance in technological areas, within a 10-year horizon. Hence the focus on dissemination to schools and an age group that can make a difference», says E-REDES.
This initiative will be publicized in 800 school groups across the country. The awareness campaign includes a series of 25 videos, starring women with careers in these areas, 10 of which are technicians and engineers from E-REDES, who will act as role models.
“A complete program of pedagogical content will also be made available to schools. Teachers and supervisors from the second and third cycles, as well as from secondary education, will thus have access to work tools to be used in the classroom context, including communication material and practical exercises», explains E-REDES.
«This initiative is part of the commitment to promote measures that encourage gender diversity and reflects E-REDES' constant concern to incorporate principles of equality into its management strategy. Integrating more women into teams and leadership will contribute to the development of an inclusive, diverse and socially responsible culture”, says José Ferrari Careto, president of E-REDES.
«With Future PWIT, we aim to inspire young people across the country with diverse tools and stories of those who chose technology as a career. If this initiative causes a significant number of female students to consider this area for their future work, our objective will be, in part, fulfilled", stresses, for her part, Inês Santos Silva, co-founder of the Portuguese Women in Tech community .
“In addition to having an impact on the younger generations, our great expectation is to achieve a mobilization of the community in general, with a special focus on parents and teachers. We believe that a change in perception is achievable, but this is only possible by working with the generations that will be the future workforce», he adds.
According to data from Eurostat, in Portugal, only 14,4% of professionals in the field of Information Technologies are women, a number that is below the European average.
Also according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020, from the World Economic Forum, the economic gap between men and women has widened, one of the causes being the reduced number of women occupying positions in technology, an area that has seen substantial growth.
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