As part of its long-standing collaboration with the Network for Children’s Rights, the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, in cooperation with Eurobank, supported the “STEM Without Tag” educational programme, which aims to deconstruct gender stereotypes and encourage children to discover careers in the STEM sciences. The Programme, approved by the Ministry of Education, was addressed to children aged 9-13 years old, aiming to promote positive female role models in STEM fields and attract more children to related professions, through experiential activities implemented in primary and secondary schools, as well as in the Network’s Culture Lab. During the first phase of the Programme, interactive workshops were held with the goal of allowing children to express their ideas and perceptions around gender stereotypes and STEM sciences and to discuss their concerns with the Network’s educators. In the second phase, participants had the opportunity to discuss with four renowned women scientists and professionals, and ask them questions and queries that emerged during the workshops regarding their academic and professional careers. At the same time, the four women-role models shared their experiences in the STEM field, as well as information about their scope of work, the obstacles they encountered in their careers and the discrimination they experienced. The meetings were filmed in order to create videos aiming to promote women and gender equality in the STEM field. These videos consist useful educational material for approaching the aforementioned topic and have been used to carry out further activities in schools across Greece.
831 children participated in the Programme, while 418 teachers received the relevant educational activities manual.
“Everyone can do the same jobs, regardless of their gender.”
Participant, 11 years old
“There are fewer women than men in my field, and this is something I notice not only in Greece, but also abroad, in countries where I have worked in the field of Technology. And that’s why I like to talk a lot about this industry to children in general, to show them that it’s a field for everyone.”
Erietta Tosidou
Mathematician
Sales Manager in the Industrial Enterprise Segment, Amazon Web Services