Driving Female STEM Engagement: The IT Workshop for Young Teenagers

In Panama, getting girls to envision and pursue a computer-related career is challenging: Traditional gender stereotypes often discourage young women from pursuing STEM fields. In addition, the lack of female role models plays a part as well as potential socio-economic barriers, such as limited access to technology and financial concerns.

However, challenges like these can be addressed with inclusive programs such as the first IT Workshop for Young Teenagers at the Universidad de Panama in Panama City.

“As an active member of IEEE, I had struggled with the low presence of girls deciding to study computer-related careers. So, I chose to do something to make them aware these careers have topics that could interest them. I also thought they should be empowered with creative, analytic, and design skills, which would provide them with a good experience using specific technologies,” said Donna Roper at the Universidad de Panama, who developed the eight-session weekend program through a grant from the IEEE Computer Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Fund, a part of the IEEE Foundation.

Working with the principals of four public and private schools from the local community, a combined 49 students in 8th, 9th, and 10th grades enrolled in the program. Of the 49 students, 59% were girls, and 82% came from public schools. The workshops took place at the Universidad de Panama’s computer labs.

A collaboration of many

While encouraging girls was a priority, inclusivity reigned supreme. Recruitment aimed to find students from varying economic backgrounds, in addition to addressing gender. So, while Roper decided to also involve boys as well—she decided girls would maintain the majority registration. Her logic? In working groups, having a higher proportion of girls than boys meant the girls felt more comfortable taking a leadership position.

The project also hosted a number of professional women with STEM careers who were willing to serve as mentors to the students; they shared how they reached the careers they did and what it took to get there. Overall, 20 professional women joined the workshops as instructors and mentors; of the 20, 35% were from the university, and 65% were practitioners. Ten percent were from other countries.

Contents

Each participant in the workshop received a workbook with information, homework assignments, best practices, and recommendations. Participants organized in groups were also virtually mentored by two women engineers both from the industry and from the university who advised students while they created their project.

Workshop participants led projects including an essay on the topic of women in computing, assignments in data analytics with business intelligence, and web page development. Girls led half the groups.

Results

Students were surveyed each week on their reactions to the workshop and the topics discussed. The workshops the students enjoyed most included leadership skills, as well as website design. They also mentioned video game design as a topic they hoped to get to study in a future workshop. Surveys also showed the students enjoyed when topics were gamified.

After the workshops, 26% of the participants decided on studying a computer-related career—and half of that number were girls.

Lessons learned

“The experience was very enlightening,” said Roper. “It gave us the opportunity to see how young people react when exposed to new technologies. Another strength was the expertise of the volunteer mentors who shared their career stories.”

Roper said she was excited about planning future events like this. Moving forward, ideas include spending more time promoting the event so that students, parents, and teachers could better understand the purpose of the workshops. She would also like to encourage older students to mentor the younger ones, which could relieve pressure from the professional mentors. And finally, she’d like more schools in the area to participate in the event, which is essential for its expansion.

“Even though our project was successful and the students from different grades were interested in continuing, the ability to sustain it depends largely on the funding,” Roper explained. “Also, this project could be effective in other Spanish-speaking countries, especially if the mentorship has a virtual component.”

Into the future

For their part, the professional mentors showed strong confidence in the program and how it will benefit students. Militza Rodriguez at Banco General said, “I believe that awakening the curiosity of young people in these academic topics is extremely beneficial for their future.”

Rosabell Castañeda, also with Banco General, said she loved the reaction of women to IT careers, adding, “Encouraging young people to become interested in technological careers and even more so, awakening that interest in girls, should be considered among the objectives of each educational center.”

And Ilda Rojas, of Women in Agile Panamá, remarked on the students’ enthusiasm and intelligence. “To realize as professionals or community organizers that these students are already responsible and are interested in STEM areas means it’s important to maintain that interest,” she said.