“I want to be an engineer. I love math, I love calculus, I love numbers... I’ve always been like this since I was little, but I felt discouraged because it is a predominantly male area,” says Rayssa Pocine, a 17-year-old girl who recently graduated from the Colégio Nemisia Ribeiro dos Santos in the small town of Morpará in Bahia, one of the poorest states in Brazil.
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are at the core of advancements in innovation and technology. Yet, women – half of the global population – are underrepresented in these fields.
Engineering and computer science are where the greatest gaps are found. Globally in 2018, only 28% of engineering and 40% of computer science graduates were women. In Brazil, women comprise 37% of engineering and only 14.6% of computer science graduates.
Rayssa is one of 250 students and teachers who took part in the first UNESCO Youth Leader #EDUCASTEM2030 event in November 2022, where girls were empowered with leadership skills, and made aware of their own potential and ability to carve their own path in STEM fields.
UNESCO’s #EDUCASTEM2030 initiative was launched in 2022, part of UNESCO’s efforts to narrow the gender gap in STEM in Brazil by promoting STEM education and inspired young people, particularly girls, to consider careers in these fields. Innovative strategies were employed, including advocacy campaigns showcasing inspiring Brazilian women in STEM, including indigenous women. Their stories were also featured in digital games that young people could use in schools and communities, including in UNESCO Massive Open Courses (MOOCs) for young people and teachers.
Online courses to empower students and teachers
Rayssa is one of 400 students who completed the UNESCO Young Leader #EDUCASTEM2030 course, the MOOC designed for students. The course builds media and information literacy, promotes awareness of STEM careers, and the importance of women in STEM. Students are also encouraged to mobilize other students through students’ unions, school and community radio programmes, social media and other youth-led platforms. Over 2,775 students were reached by young people’s advocacy actions following the course.
In the pilot states of Pernambuco and Bahia, 397 primary and secondary teachers, 80% of whom were women, were certified through the teachers’ MOOC. The course aims to support teachers transform education to arouse greater interest among girls and women in STEM careers. Its methodology allows the creation and development of pedagogical practices focused on problem-solving and teamwork.
You can’t be what you can’t see
UNESCO #EDUCASTEM2030 videos and materials reached all five Brazilian regions through CineSolar, the first travelling cinema in Brazil powered by clean and renewable energy. Over 14,735 people were reached through 14 sessions, across 17 states of Brazil including indigenous and hard-to-reach communities with no access to electric energy.
The use of vans, adapted with energy conversion systems, allowed the initiative to go into a wide range of communities to provide hands-on learning experiences to young people in a mobile and flexible way.
A promising initiative to expand
Rayssa feels more confident in her abilities and is currently studying to apply for colleges and pursue STEM fields: “Today I tell myself: this is the area I want so I’m going to get it and there is no stereotype, nothing that people or society says that will stop me from doing it. And that’s what it is to be an EDUCASTEM Youth Leader!”
UNESCO’s #EDUCASTEM2030 initiative is now planning to expand to other municipalities and states, and to incorporate these themes into Brazil’s new education policies and programmes.
