Throughout the project, we raise awareness about the gender gap that persists in STEM fields and encourage students, teachers, and parents to view career choices from a different perspective – one free from traditional gender stereotypes. Young people were encouraged to take a deeper look at their own interests, capabilities, and potential; it was gratifying to see them exploring new possibilities and realizing that STEM fields can offer opportunities for everyone.
To fulfill our mission, the ‘Digital Bridges Over the Gender Gap’ project developed and implemented engaging, technology-based educational materials, including a Learning Management System (LMS), digital stories, and Virtual Reality (VR) experiences.
The LMS was developed by our Estonian partner (Paide Hillar Hanssoo Põhikool) in collaboration with all project partners. Providing this e-learning course offers an opportunity for deeper reflection on the gender gap in STEM fields. It serves as a valuable tool for implementing the project with students, teachers, and parents.
If you were asked to name five scientists, which names would come to mind? Mostly men? What about female scientists? Could you name five female scientists just as quickly as you named the male ones? The Digital Stories were developed by our partner from North Macedonia (SOU Jane Sandanski Strumica), in collaboration with all partners, to help address this question. These are stories of real women who have led – and continue to lead – the way in STEM fields. We sought to select a diverse range of stories featuring inspiring women from various backgrounds, spanning from widely recognized figures to those whose achievements have received far less acclaim, despite their significant contributions to science.
We believe that having a role model can do more to foster motivation than any abstract theory with which young people might struggle to connect. Therefore, we looked for women whose stories would resonate with young people and inspire them to view STEM fields as a realistic path for their own futures.
Reaching young people aged 13 to 18 can be challenging. We chose to create a high-tech game as a way to captivate this young target audience.
The Virtual Reality (VR) tool was developed by our Turkish partner (Konak Sehit Ömer Halisdemir Bilim ve Sanat Merkezi), thanks to the tremendous effort of their IT team. The other partners provided stories of women in STEM from their respective countries, which the Turkish partner then transformed into a game. Each partner was asked to break their stories down into four sections to facilitate the game-development process. The result was amazing—our high school students loved it!
All materials were tested during our Learning, Teaching, and Training Activity (LTTA) in Turkey with students from all the European partner organizations, and the outcome exceeded our expectations. Our students were encouraged to reflect on the gender gap in STEM fields and learned about many inspiring examples of women working and succeeding in these areas.
The “Digital Bridges Over the Gender Gap” project reached schools and the homes of parents and students through our learning management system (LMS), our website, engaging social media posts, seminars, and webinars. Overall, we can proudly say that the project’s results exceeded even our most optimistic expectations.
The final conference summarizing the project achievements will be held on the 22 of October at the University of Applied Sciences in Tarnow as part of a broader conference for psychologists, teachers and decision-makers in the area of education. You are all welcome: https://anstar.edu.pl/uczelnia/aktywnosc-edukacyjna/konferencje-i-szkolenia/wspolczesne-perspektywy-pedagogiki-i-psychologii-w-kontekscie-edukacji-i-wychowania/#lang=en
