CSR Ukraine, CSR Development Center expert organization, supported by UNFPA Ukraine, the United Nations Population Fund in Ukraine, and the Institute for Educational Content Modernization have initiated the opening of the #STEM affiliates in Ukraine in order to promote technical specialties and increase the number of girls in STEM areas.
STEM stands for Science, Technology (IT, technologies), Engineering (robotics, 3D modeling), and Mathematics.
28 educational institutions from 14 oblasts of Ukraine contributed to the creation of affiliates: Vinnytsia, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zakarpattya, Zaporizhzhya, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi and Chernihiv. Participating institutions have already planned activities that are ready to be implemented within one year. Among the initiatives are science days, developing a mentoring program for girls in STEM, professional training and games, working with 5-7 grade schoolgirls, developing educational and development robots (STEM toys) for children with special needs, visits to successful STEM enterprises, and dozens of other projects.
“At our school, we already have lessons for children that are intended to get children interested in science. But we want to make a separate focus on girls. Unfortunately, we do not have examples of successful female scientists in our city, so we are very eager to have a chance to meet such women and get inspired by their stories. I want to prove to all students that there are no boundaries or gender restrictions. And we are ready to break the stereotypes which exist”, Kateryna Khomenko, a student of the specialized secondary school No. 30 with advanced natural sciences, mathematics and English curriculum (Kherson), told us.
The main activities of the affiliates will be aimed at introducing and raising awareness about STEM as a leading approach to learning in Ukraine. As part of the initiative, participants will be able to organize a variety of educational activities aimed at eradicating gender stereotypes in their choice of professions and to assist students in the implementation of their own STEM projects.
In November 2019, the organizers will select the most active affiliate, following the results of the event reporting. The winner, identified by the organizers and partners of the program, will be eligible to organize the Final Conference in December 2019. More information about the initiative is available on the Girls STEM website https://girls-stem.org/polozhennya
__________
Girls STEM is the all-Ukrainian program aimed at increasing the number of girls in the technical professions. A lot of initiatives were held in the last years, among which mentorship program, hackathons for girls and teachers, a topical comic was developed. Following numerous requests of the participants, the program organizers and partners initiate creation of a ramified network of the #GirlsSTEM affiliates across Ukraine. More information is available at Girls STEM website: https://girls-stem.org/polozhennya
CSR Ukraine, CSR Development Center - an expert organization in Ukraine that brings together more than 40 large companies, jointly with which it has been promoting the principles of sustainable business and social responsibility, implementing its own social projects, providing consultations, holding seminars and trainings on CSR issues and reporting for both private companies and public authorities for more than ten years. It is a national partner of CSREurope (Brussels, Belgium) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (Geneva, Switzerland). www.csr-ukraine.org
The UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is a leading UN agency focusing on gender equality, reproductive health and capacity building for young people. We work with partners in 150 countries and territories around the world, and since 1997 we operate in Ukraine to promote equality, overcome gender stereotypes, enhance women's opportunities, support equal distribution of household chores, and involve men in raising children. Since 2015, together with the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the campaign "4 Hands Happiness" has been launched. More information about UNFPA and our work in Ukraine: www.ukraine.unfpa.org. Follow UNFPA's Twitter and Facebook activities.
