Wisibilízalas: promoting the role of women in ICT among secondary school students

Abstract

Although technology comprises an important part of our daily life, no matter your gender, women are underrepresented in the overall sector of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). Among several reasons, the recurring stereotype that male students are more suitable for technical studies is the one that stands out. In this context, and with the aim of breaking this stereotype, we introduce Wisibilízalas, a contest addressed to high-school students to show inspirational women to young students, giving global visibility of female ICT professionals and making the students being in touch with technology. Participants have to create a website containing profiles of female ICT professionals. As a requirement, the chosen profiles must correspond to Spanish women who are currently developing their professional career. This way, we promote the active contribution that female engineers have in our current economy and society. 05 students in 15 different teams across Spain took part, creating 50 highly-diverse profiles of women in academia, industry or entrepreneurs, and with different levels of seniority. The contest achieved external impact in media and international recognition. Through some questionnaires, we could evaluate the positive impact of the contest in both students and teachers. The sample is equitable in terms of gender, what makes both girls and boys (and female and male teachers) talk about women working in the ICT domain. The results show the potential interest and relevance that the initiative can have in the educational system and, subsequently, a second edition has been launched.