Falling for 4.0 – SIEMENS for women in STEM areas
Women want to get ahead in technology and Industry 4.0. And that we know for sure since we have the opportunity to watch this first-hand. We see the involvement of women pursuing careers in our customers’ and partners’ companies. At times, we also get to watch young women as they completely fall for technology and industry 4.0, discovering that so-called difficult male topics are something they are passionate about. This happens during various educational and motivational ventures for girls who later often pursue careers in business as female engineers.
One such workshop is organized every year by Siemens as part of the #Inżynierki4.0 (female engineers) programme. We were truly happy to take part in it since it’s partnered with HTC Vive – the producer providing hardware for our VR solutions.
The programme was created with the aim of developing the potential and increasing the professional competencies of female students at technical universities in Poland. It provides a solid dose of practical and substantive knowledge, as well as the opportunity to build relationships in the business world. Through the initiative, Siemens is helping to build the position of young female engineers in the world of Industry 4.0. The fourth edition of the programme and the four-day workshop, in which we accompanied 30 female representatives of Polish technical universities, was filled with interesting lectures and practical sessions. The girls learned how to prepare for the labour market and discussed how to address the most intractable problems we face with the help of technology – fighting climate change or building and developing innovative solutions in the area of industry and infrastructure.
The number of women in STEM is growing. More women are enrolling in STEM programs at universities. We are also seeing more women in executive and board roles within STEM companies and organizations are increasing their representation. The visibility of women in prominent roles in STEM is starting to impact future generations.
Yet still, significant gender imbalance remains. According to research conducted by the United Nations, less than 30% of the world’s researchers are women. Women only make up 15% of the total management roles in science, engineering, and technology.
There is a considerable lack of confidence in STEM careers among women and therefore the perception of how women think they will do in STEM-related careers needs to change. The latest Randstad study (March 2023) shows that 34% of women were more likely to say that STEM jobs are hard to understand compared to men before they even tried it. When asked how good they would be at a STEM job, fewer women thought they would be good at the role compared to men.
That’s why activities like this one by Siemens are so important, as they offer much more than an opportunity to develop the potential and increase the professional competencies of female participants, and female students at technical universities in Poland. Above all, they influence awareness and dispel wrong assumptions about the difficulty of science majors. They resonate loudly to finally break down a barrier that should never have existed.
