Empowering girls in science and technology is at the heart of the second edition of the STEM Forum which kicks off tomorrow

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, will open the Forum, which will bring together high-level speakers to identify key EU actions to eliminate gender imbalance in STEM. This year, the theme of the Forum will be “Empowering Girls in Science and Technology”. Girls and young women will engage in discussions with EU policy makers, scientists and entrepreneurs in view of eliminating the gender bias in STEM. The event will also celebrate the success of the Girls Go Circular project, which has already equipped over 14,000 girls aged 14-19 with digital and entrepreneurial skills. Commissioner Gabriel said: “Empowering girls in science and technology – the title of this year's Forum sums up perfectly our objective. It cannot be that in the EU, there are still young girls and women who are discouraged from pursuing their interest in STEM. We have to end stereotyping once and for all and allow everybody to follow their dream. This is my ultimate dream: to empower girls to pursue their dreams of becoming whoever they want to be, a scientist, a computer engineer, mathematician, or an entrepreneur.” Currently, women represent only 18% of ICT students and employees in the EU and only 34% of STEM graduates are women, despite the link between STEM, digital, and entrepreneurial skills and the green transition, also recognised in the New Skills Agenda for Europe. In parallel, the Girls Go Circular project aims to deliver on the gender equality goals of the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027. In the coming years, it will reach even more girls across all 27 Member States as announced in the New European Innovation Agenda. To register for virtual attendance at the Women and Girls in STEM Forum, click here.