The Importance of Being a Coding Gir

30/11/2022

4 min.

The ninth edition was presented yesterday

The ninth edition of Coding Girls, the augmented educational programme to train the new generation on STEAM subjects and provide orientation for their future careers, was held yesterday at the Young Conference Centre of the United States Embassy in Rome. The strength of the great educational alliance, coordinated by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale with the support of the United States Diplomatic Mission to Italy, is the synergy between the various partners that have “adopted” schools, areas, and entire educational communities. In addition to 32 academic institutions, the alliance also includes Microsoft, Compagnia di San Paolo, ENI, and now ING Italia, too.

The salary gap between men and women is less wide in STEM areas (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), according to the most recent Eurostat Report, which, nonetheless, points out that the achievement of equality and inclusion is still far. This is why it is so important to promote projects that address gender bias from childhood, like Coding Girls, the educational programme developed to help girls and young women to freely select their studies and future professions, whilst practicing STEM subjects.

The presentation event for the 9th edition at the Young Conference Centre of the United States Embassy in Rome included students of all ages and classes, as well as the educational alliance coordinated by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale.

The alliance includes schools, families, universities, companies, and public and private associations, in synergy with the United States Diplomatic Mission to Italy and in collaboration with Microsoft and Compagnia di San Paolo. Moreover, in collaboration with ENI we developed a programme addressing sustainability and the energy transition. And this year, ING Italia joins our alliance, too.

“The experienced matured since 2014 with our Coding Girls has led us to understand that a culture of inclusion in STEM requires a foundation in early childhood, for both young girls and boys, as increasing their awareness early on helps to progressively weaken gender stereotypes that are deeply rooted in our society. This is also clearly evident in the students participating in the project, who at the end of the course acknowledged they had changed their beliefs to overcome initial prejudice,” explained Mirta Michilli, Director General, Fondazione Mondo Digitale.

“Providing young women with the necessary tools to succeed in the working world is an important foreign policy priority for the United States,” declared Christina Tomlinson, Minister Councillor for Public Affairs, United States Embassy. “With Coding Girls we emphasise fundamental issues for relations between the United States and Italy, like the greater inclusion of women in STEM. Women are a driving force in social change and the education of citizens to the democratic values that our countries share.”

After having involved ca. 15,000 students in more than 30 Italian cities, and in collaboration with over 30 universities, this year, Coding Girls will also organize a special programme with the City of Rome in collaboration with the Rome Council. Moreover, the programme will also focus on IT security in collaboration with Microsoft. Indeed, cybersecurity is a social investment of collective interest that does not only concern hackers, super experts, and special teams.

Furthermore, thanks to the Italian Agency for Cooperation Development (AICS) and together with the Centre for Information and Development Education (CIES), we are involving Italian students with students from ten provinces in Mozambique in a STEAM (both basic and advanced) training and awareness-raising programme, with an intensive course for a group of young women on experiences of incubation and the development of micro and small enterprises by women.

Speakers

Annamaria Brancaccio, School Administrator, General Direction for School Systems and the Evaluation of the National Education System, Ministry of Education
Marwa Elhakim, Head of Diversity & Inclusion, ENI
Pierpaolo Limone, Rector, University of Foggia and CRUI Coordinator for Orientation, Training, ITS, and Life-long Learning (tbc)
Monica Lucarelli, Equal Opportunities Councillor, City of Rome
Beatrice Pasciuta, Deputy Rector for Equal Opportunities, University of Palermo
Maria Grazia Pugliese, Customer Success Executive, Microsoft Italia

Testimonials

Elisa Chierchiello, Coach, Fondazione Mondo Digitale
Silvia Salini, Associate Professor of Statistics, “La Statale” University of Milan
Giorgia Mazzanti, student, Alma Mater Studiorum, Bologna

Annarita Petrillo, Professor, Liceo Scientifico Peano, Monterotondo

Recording of Event

Event story

Le interviste

Statements

“We need to the belief of young women that they can work in STEM along with men. Participation is balanced in student mathematics competitions, while male students prevail in chemistry and physics competitions. In IT, only 14% of participants are women. I believe this is due to a cultural problem of families. The new Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, has started a worktable to develop guidelines for the promotion of STEM courses with women. I think we will manage to increase female presence in technological contexts sooner than we think.”

Annamaria Brancaccio, School Administrator, General Direction for School Systems and the Evaluation of the National Education System, Ministry of Education

“I’m a mechanical engineer, as per family tradition. I have a systemic approach to things that helps me bring together all aspects of my private and professional life. Today, thanks to my institutional role, I am working on equal opportunities across the board to guarantee equal rights and opportunities both in life and at work. Coding Girls is a project based on education to help students undertake different paths than those traditionally assigned to us by society. Equal opportunities are an issue for everyone, not only women, because a country that does not promote everyone’s growth will inevitably end up not investing in its development.”

Monica Lucarelli, Equal Opportunities Councillor, City of Rome

“Our gender balance indicates that young women are better students than their male counterparts. They finish university earlier and with better grades. Nonetheless, men represent 92% of IT students, and 3-5 years after graduation, they earn more than women in the same field. Therefore, we are organizing a “gender equality plan” and will invest more than €400,000 to raise awareness on the gender gap amongst the student community. Fundamentally, we believe that similar work is also needed for our faculty via tutoring actions.”

Beatrice Pasciuta, Deputy Rector for Equal Opportunities, University of Palermo

“In order to achieve our objectives for the energy transition and reduce emissions, ENI aims to reinforce digital skills. ENI is working with schools and scholastic associations, like Coding Girls, to overcome gender stereotypes and involve young women in this process of improvement. Moreover, the enterprise orientation course of Project COde&FraME provides interesting opportunities and works in parallel with Joule to support aspiring entrepreneurs and to promote the emancipation of women by creating new networks and promoting business opportunities.”

Marwa Elhakim, Head of Diversity & Inclusion, ENI

“Various studies reveal how diversity can increase the profitability and growth of companies that invest in policies that promote diversity and inclusion; moreover, digital trends like AI and the cloud have been generating greater employment opportunities. Companies, however, are finding it difficult to find qualified personnel. The skill gap is an urgent problem, and the lack of digital skills is one of the main obstacles to the digitalization and competitiveness of Italy. So, everyone must contribute and accelerate change, so that young women may overcome gender stereotypes and undertake studies and professional careers in the sectors that present the greatest opportunities. Starting from schools and universities, Microsoft has always worked to incentivize students to study STEAM subjects. We do this with Coding Girls and through “Ambizione Italia” which promotes and fields training initiatives and digital skills, an educational, updating and requalification programme in line with new technological trends and market demands, with the objective of contributing to employment and digital growth in Italy.”

Maria Grazia Pugliese, Customer Success Executive, Microsoft Italia

"Female response to Job Digital Lab has been very positive; in fact, 70% of participants are women who wish to face challenges, invest on themselves and explore new routes. Coding Girls allows us to extend our action range to very young women and introduce them to STEAM, subjects that are increasingly central in the skills of the future required by companies. Participating in this initiative and providing women with the new tools necessary for their development is a reason of great pride for us at ING."

Silvia Colombo, Head of External Communication & CSR, ING Italia

Testimonials

“The University of Foggia is amongst the first ten Italian universities in terms of women enrolled in scientific subjects: 55%. The result that we obtained is important, but it is only an intermediate leg. Appointed nationally by CRUI for orientation, teacher training, ITS, and life-long learning, I am committed to networking with other universities. This is the beginning of an important new season because, as you know, important resources are arriving. We want to improve the quality of orientation systemically throughout the country. And organize the various actions that are already in place. As the University of Foggia, we have developed a Gender Equality Plan. There still is a lot to do, because gender equality is not only necessary in academia, but in all sectors. It is the true guarantee of sustainable growth for the country. We are happy to collaborate with the Coding Girls alliance to fast track the achievement of gender equality and therefore all sustainable development objectives.

Pierpaolo Limone, Rector, University of Foggia and CRUI Coordinator for Orientation, Training, ITS, and Life-long Learning

“This experience has brought me into touch with the world of training. In my experience, the percentage of women in scientific and technical faculties are increasing, thanks to projects like Coding Girls.”

Elisa Chierchiello, Coach, Fondazione Mondo Digitale

“We happily joined the project because it’s an opportunity not only to develop soft skills, but also to meet the mission of divulging a culture of data, an indispensable skill to avoid being manipulated and enlarging the skills of democratic participation.”

Silvia Salini, Associate Professor of Statistics, “La Statale” University of Milan

“Studies show that the results achieved by women improve when they understand they can obtain the same results as their colleagues. Thanks to Coding Girls, I have opened my eyes and reflected on gender stereotypes that are deeply rooted in both society and ourselves.”

Giorgia Mazzanti, student, Alma Mater Studiorum, Bologna

“We have been participating in Coding Girl for nine years. We believe coding is a way of thinking. Participants enjoy it because they are stimulated by computational thinking. We can’t wait to see the students have fun with coding-related activities.”

Annarita Petrillo, Professor, Liceo Scientifico Peano, Monterotondo (Rome)

The Importance of Being a Coding Gir