Learn about the projects supported by the Girls in STEM program
From robotics classes in Complexo da Maré, in Rio de Janeiro, to computing, in Macapá, Amapá, the public call benefited more than 7,600 girls in eleven states of Brazil
In its first edition in 2021, the STEM Girls: Educating Future Scientists offered financial and technical support for twelve projects in the five regions of Brazil that encourage the broader participation of elementary and high school students girls in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. The project was developed by the British Council in partnership with the Museu do Amanhã and the STEM Education Hub.
Read more: Museu do Amanhã – Financial resources and training leverage projects
Learn more about the projects that teach from robotics in Complexo da Maré, in Rio de Janeiro, to computing, in Macapá, Amapá.
Girls in Science: promoting the protagonism and engagement of women in riverside communities | Igarapé-Miri — Pará, Northwestern Brazil
Target Audience: Girls and women in elementary and secondary education in riverside communities.
About the project: The project offers girls in northern Brazil a series of science-related workshops, lectures and scientific excursions, providing theoretical and methodological guidance for building prototypes and solving environmental problems in their region. In addition, it also supports participants to overcome barriers in learning Mathematics. They are also encouraged to give visibility to their activities through the production of short films and documentaries.
Objective: Aims to stimulate and increase the participation and engagement of river-dwelling women and girls in Science, reinforcing their important role in the scientific and technological development of the Northern Amazon Region, municipality of Igarapé-Mirim, in Pará. More specifically, the intention is to set up a study and research group with girls and women in order to give visibility to their participation in scientific and technological events and to promote visits and excursions to scientific and technological spaces.
What the project has achieved so far: Since its beginning in 2019, the project has reached 100 riverside girls in the municipality of Igarapé-Mirim.
What this project hopes to achieve: After this program, the researchers hope to reach 80 girls from riverside communities along the Murutipucu and Igarapé-Miri/Pa rivers. Between May and December 2021, students must participate in Environmental Education and Sustainability Workshops, Robotics Workshops, Scientific Initiation Workshops, Study and Research Groups, Science Olympics, Scientific Excursions, Production of Short Films and Documentaries and Science Fairs.
Target Audience: Young residents at the Favela da Maré, students at Colégio Estadual Professor João Borges de Moraes
About the project: Redes da Maréis is a non-governmental institution that produces knowledge, projects and actions to ensure effective public policies to improve the lives of 140,000 residents of the 16 favelas in Maré, Rio de Janeiro. Peritech Maré is a robotics team formed by students from Escola Professor João Borges de Moraes. They represent the school and its territory in regional and national competitions.
Objective: The project’s objectives include: training girls in technology as an agent of social transformation in these favelas; promoting access to goods and services in the field of art, culture, technology and information; making the girls living in Maré aware that the use of robotics is possible and deserves attention; mobilizing girls to promote transformative social actions; promoting the socio-cultural empowerment through technology, stimulating critical thinking and favouring the participation of all segments of society in the country’s development.
What the project has achieved so far: Since its beginning in 2019, the Peritech project has reached 218 students in Favela da Maré.
What this project hopes to achieve: In its new edition, the researchers intend to reach up to 110 students through the development of a teaching plan and pedagogical practices using methodological resources in the field of technology and innovation in robotics.
Target audience: elementary and high school students, as well as engineering students at the undergraduate level.
About the project: The project was conceived to increase the engagement of women from the Amazon region in STEM careers. Through a series of thematic workshops organized by volunteers and teachers, various concepts in STEAMS areas (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics and sustainability) were addressed. The idea is to promote skills among volunteers, who act as role models while training elementary and high school students. At the moment, the project is being carried out at a school in Guamá, one of the most vulnerable neighbourhoods in Belém. There are 9 engineering students working as volunteers.
Objective: This project aims to encourage and provide the personal and professional growth of Engineering undergraduates at the Federal University of Pará. Through the encouragement of elementary and high school girls in choosing careers related to STEM and the dissemination of knowledge and awareness about the role of women in the development of society and technologies, this project focuses on teaching concepts related to sustainable development in the community.
What the project has achieved so far: Awareness of the academic engineering community about the importance of demystifying male participation in Engineering and Science.· Despite being recent at UFPA, since its beginning in 2020, the project has already reached 150 students in the area.
What this project hopes to achieve: In this new edition of the project, researchers hope to reach 150 students. It is also expected to expand its target audiences, such as students with special needs and social vulnerability, and increase the number of partner schools. With the expansion of partnerships, an increase in the number of lectures, short courses open to the university’s internal and external public, workshops and plenary sessions are also expected, promoting social development, implementing sustainability concepts and strengthening ties with the university.
Target audience: girls and teachers in Basic Education.
About the project: Activities of this project include: two online courses (Introduction to Electronics and Robotics and Nanotechnology); monthly meetings for instrumental reading in English and conversation; online chats with female scientists working in STEM fields; survey on Women and STEM areas in schools participating in the project; to offer workshops to the supervisor teachers of the participating schools in the Robotics and 3D Printing Laboratory of the Floriano Viegas Machado State School in Dourados; development and presentation of projects at science fairs by female groups; production of teaching material; production of a documentary about the Project.
Objective: The Cunhantaí: Girls in Science and Technology project aims to awaken and bring female students in Basic Education closer to scientific and technological areas, historically and culturally considered as areas not geared towards women.
What the project has achieved so far: Since its beginning, in 2018, the project has reached 191 students in Dourados.
What this project hopes to achieve: Cunhantaí was developed with the aim of integrating concepts such as intersectionality, gender, class, race and ethnicity in science education. In this new edition of the project, researchers will initially reach 30 people, including female students and teachers at Basic Education.
Akotirene Kilombo Science | Triunfo — Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil
Target audience: black students in public basic education and in urban and rural kilombola Communities in Rio Grande do Sul.
About the project: The project offers an intercultural dialogue between career professionals related to STEM and kilombola communities in Rio Grande do Sul. Students in this project participate in remote workshops on artificial intelligence, logic and computational thinking, online environmental education activities and other remote activities related to the traditions and botanical knowledge in kilombola communities. Furthermore, Education for Ethnic, Racial and Gender Issues in STEM are also addressed in different virtual events.
Objective: Aims to promote racial equity in basic education and, in particular, in kilombola education, promoting the effective participation of black kilombola girls in STEM careers, so that they acquire the necessary tools for their autonomous participation in the labour market, facing the structural challenges of the 21st century in Brazil.
What the project has achieved so far: Since its beginning in 2021, the 3 editions of the project have already reached 1,500 students from kilombola communities. They participated in a range of activities related to science and technology.
What this project hopes to achieve: After this program, the researchers hope to reach 50 students. They also hope to be able to provide students and their communities with computers, tablets, Internet access, books, among other materials that guarantee the execution of such activities. Part of the material produced will be made available in the form of a Visual Digital Encyclopedia and an online video channel.
Target Audience: High school students from state schools in Paraíba with poor infrastructure for STEM subjects.
About the project: Aiming to attract high school students to Computer Science, the project promotes debates on gender balance in STEM between college and high school students. In addition, 4-hour Computer Science workshops are offered in different areas such as mobile application development. The project also organizes lectures with successful women in STEM about entrepreneurship in computing. Participants in this project are encouraged to promote the project’s visibility on social networks, websites and scientific events.
Objective: Aims to attract high school students from Paraíba to Computer Science through knowledge, increasing the students’ sense of self-efficacy. By shifting their perspective to a sense of success and achievement, participants in this project can be encouraged to consider different careers. In addition, the project aims to break paradigms about the existence of professions suitable only for men or women.
What the project has achieved so far: Since its beginning in 2014, the project has reached 3,430 students in its 7 editions.
What this project hopes to achieve: In this new edition, the researchers hope to reach 1,500 students from João Pessoa, capital of the state, to the countryside, through lectures and workshops on topics such as: Equity in STEM, programming in Scratch and AppInventor, entrepreneurship, mobile application development and Artificial Intelligence with Python. In addition, the students will visit the universities’ laboratories and will continuously feed a website and social media with the results of the project. It is expected to attract a greater number of girls to higher education courses in the area of technology and computer science.
30 Days of Science | São Paulo — São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil
Target audience: Brazilian students in basic education
About the project: Starting during the pandemic in 2020, the project is close to its 3rd edition. For 30 days, basic education students across Brazil participate in scientific activities remotely, while working with mentors and coordinators. Both serve to provide feedback on activities and encouragement during the program. By the end of the month, each student is expected to have a well-founded research problem, enlisting the support of their mentors for assessment and tips. Examples of activities are surveys, readings, interviews, making timelines and developing presentations.
Objective: The 30 Days of Science project, coordinated and developed by ABRIC-Brazilian Association of Science Incentive, aims to present and explore important stages in the development of a research project for Brazilian basic education students who have little contact with research and science. During the project, the mentors and coordinators seek to spark curiosity and creativity so that the young participants can become agents of change in society.
What the project has achieved so far: Since its beginning in 2020, the project has reached around 220 students from the public and private sectors and has become one of the most accessible projects on the subject in Brazil.
What this project hopes to achieve: After the program, students will be able to resort to the materials from the course during and after the program. The leaders hope to update and improve their knowledge of concepts and approaches to increasing gender balance in STEM. They also hope to reach around 80 young people in this new edition of the project.
Target Audience: 9th-grade students enrolled in public schools in Vera Cruz.
About the project: Pró-Mar is a non-governmental institution founded in 1999, in Itaparica Island, northeastern Brazil. Since 2000, the “Pró-mar goes to school” project has brought environmental education to public schools in the matriarchal city of Vera Cruz, Bahia. The project offers activities such as workshops, lectures and mentorships with the aim of increasing environmental awareness and the conservation of marine and coastal areas. The main source of income in the region is seafood, harvested mainly by women from the sea, while men are dedicated to artisanal fishing, small businesses and civil construction.
Objective: The main objective of the project is to raise environmental awareness, through education and communication actions, seeking to encourage girls from traditional communities to expand their knowledge of the most important ecosystems in Itaparica Island: mangroves and coral reefs.
What the project has achieved so far: Since its beginning in 2000, the project has reached 13,000 students in the area.
What this project hopes to achieve: In the 2021 edition of the project, Karina and Adriana hope to reach 5,000 girls, empowering them to become influential leaders in their communities. According to the researchers, development becomes more significant when project participants have access to mentoring, as they act as workers, entrepreneurs, mothers, citizens, scientists and community leaders. Investing in female youth is an essential strategy in the fight against poverty. It accelerates not only economic growth, but social and environmental growth as well.
Target Audience: High school students from public schools in São Luís, capital of Maranhão.
About the project: The project promotes scientific culture for girls in STEM areas, integrating knowledge and encouraging the realization of undergraduate courses in exact and technological sciences.
Objective: Among the project’s objectives are: to act in secondary education through actions that promote early contact with the areas of science and technology; contribute to the elimination of gender stereotypes in STEM careers; to stimulate the girls’ autonomy, initiative and critical perspectives regarding their potential for the development of careers, courses or professions in Exact and Technological Sciences; train high school students to act as multipliers of knowledge and, finally, make the prospects for success clear through model professionals.
What the project has achieved so far: Since its beginning in 2018, the project has reached 572 students in the area. Among the various actions already carried out to foster interest in the STEM areas are: (a) training students through mini-courses; (b) dissemination of female participation in the area; (c) training students while they use experimentation activities; (d) promotion and dissemination of Science through visiting scientific laboratories; (e) greater familiarization of students with the professional universe through technical lectures.
What this project hopes to achieve: The researchers hope to serve 150 girls in this new online edition of the project. The actions will have a multidisciplinary character, with a dynamic approach, consisting of the presentation of interactive experiments, short courses, lectures, podcasts, involving the areas of mathematics, chemistry, physics, computing, robotics and environmental education.
Target audience: Basic Education students and teachers, gifted students, girls in social vulnerability, engineering and computing students, graduate students.
About the project: Manna Academy is part of the Education Ecosystem 5.0 known as the Manna Team. It is managed by the largest network of research, extension, non-formal education and innovation in the Internet of Things (IoT) and its variations in the State of Paraná, with 20 years of experience in the development of projects aimed at women as well as new approaches where the student is the protagonist. Manna Academy aims to encourage female participation in STEAM areas through activities that are carried out in partnership with schools, companies, startups, social organizations, governments (municipal, state and federal) and families, identifying research opportunities and developing prototypes with scientific, technological and innovation impact, training in hard skills and soft skills.
Objective: Among the objectives of the Manna Academy are: (i) encouraging the participation of girls in the fields of engineering, computing and microelectronics; (ii) offering environments and routines for engagement, propulsion and innovation so that all participants (teachers, students, ordinary citizens) become protagonists in learning, embrace experimental practices and discover the genius in themselves; (iii) the development of an Education 5.0 methodology based on the science of well-being, meaningful learning, maker culture and profound learning that encourages the emergence of new agents for transforming realities; (iv) carrying out activities aimed at popularizing science; (v) the definition of a framework that can be replicated elsewhere.
What the project has achieved so far: Since its beginning in 2000, the project has impacted 20,000 people including students, teachers, family members and ordinary citizens. The project has already reached 28 cities, several schools and has approximately 200 participants.
What this project hopes to achieve: In this new edition of the project, the researchers hope to reach 200 students. They also hope to promote and hold lectures and online workshops, as well as develop strategies, artifacts, methodologies and educational kits aimed at attracting and including girls in STEM areas.
Target Audience: Elementary and Higher Education Students
About the project: The Girls in Computing and Engineering project began in 2018 at the Federal University of Amapá ( Unifap), and is already in its second edition. Through workshops, conversations and lectures, both Higher Education and Elementary School students are encouraged to continue their studies in the STEM areas. Among the workshops are: Programming Logics, Android Application Development and Arduino Project Development. The workshops are taught by undergraduate students, promoting representation and encouraging these students to remain in the courses. Conversations and lectures were conducted by both undergraduate students and female professionals in Technology. As of the pandemic, the project activities were reformulated to take place online. In 2021, a partnership with Unifap’s Women in Engineering (WIE) project was created, and now both will be responsible for conducting the next workshops. Unifap´s Women in Engineering (WIE) started in 2020 and is in its first edition.
Objective: The Girls in Computer Science and Engineering project, developed at the Federal University of Amapá (UNIFAP), aims to spark interest in computer science and engineering among girls. All workshops seek to develop logical thinking and provide experience in the development of technological solutions, to attract interest in technology through direct and practical contact with the field.
What the project has achieved so far: In its two editions, 50 people were reached by numerous actions such as workshops, short courses, lectures, exhibitions, conversation circles, in addition to the development of web content and teaching material.
What this project hopes to achieve: After the program, the researchers hope to increase the number of project beneficiaries to at least 80 new participants. They also hope to improve the infrastructure so that they can carry out more practical activities. In addition, they hope to expand their knowledge of concepts and approaches related to gender balance in STEM.
Girls Scientists: education and protagonism in the fight against gender violence | Uruaçu — Goiás, Midwestern Brazil
Target audience: elementary and high school students from kilombos, students with disabilities, residents in rural areas or in situations of social vulnerability in the municipalities of Cavalcante and Uruaçu, in the state of Goiás.
About the project: The project offers remote workshops in the following areas: Civil Engineering, Training, Geoprocessing, Literature, Chemistry, Popularization of Science, Logical Reasoning, Robotics and Virology through partnerships between public schools and traditional communities.
Objective: This project aims to carry out practical activities with the objective of broadening the horizons of girls in a historical context of subordination, living with stereotypes, violence and discouragement, especially in STEM areas. In addition, the Geoprocessing Workshops will enable the elaboration of maps on the territories of the groups served, contributing to the environmental and cultural preservation of the area.
What the project has achieved so far: Since its beginning in 2019, the project has already reached 60 students in the area.
What this project hopes to achieve: The researchers hope to reach 240 girls between August 2021 and July 2022, as well as 11 undergraduate students and 14 students from Career Programs at high school level. Thus, 265 students living in municipalities in the Northeast and North regions of Goiás will benefit directly from the project.
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