22.07.2019
On March 29, 2019 in Kyiv, the STEM COALITION Social Union held the Women’s Leadership in STEM Companies Forum and awarded technology companies and universities for women’s development and support practices. The event was organized under the project “Technology Covenant for the Development of Women in STEM Companies” with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine. The IT-integrator (certificate “The Best Company for Women”, level B), Zhytomyr State Technological University (“Best University for Women”, level A), Vinnytsia National Technical University, Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics and Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts were awarded. (level B).
At the opening of the Forum, Mikey Van Coldman, Deputy Head of Mission to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine, said: “Conducting projects to support women’s leadership demonstrate an impact not only on the development of the country’s economy, but also on society as women are more sincere, more enthusiastic in them to make useful and important things for society “. Deputy Minister of Social Policy Natalia Fedorovich noted that the Ministry always supports initiatives on equality of rights and women’s leadership in the country and programs for the expansion of economic opportunities and women’s rights.
The forum was devoted to the results of the Technology Pact. The Technology Covenant is an initiative of the STEM coalition, aimed at consolidating the efforts of educational institutions, civic initiatives and companies to support women in the technological sphere and to unleash their potential. It unites 44 organizations from 7 regions of Ukraine (including 11 universities and colleges, 20 companies and 13 educational and public initiatives), which committed themselves to introducing measures for girls and women, and create favorable conditions for the disclosure of women’s potential. During this time, signatories of the Technology Pact for the Development of Women in STEM companies implemented 46 programs and initiatives for 3,900 girls and women.
During the Forum participants got acquainted with the results of the activities of the project “Technology Pact for the Development of Women in STEM Companies”, which involved more than 2500 girls and women:
- developed a guide for companies “15 steps for HR”;
- 6 forums “Women’s Leadership in STEM Companies” were organized;
- Three studies on women’s employment in STEM have been conducted, women’s leadership costs and the expectations of girls and women from studying and working in technology universities and companies;
- 4 meetings were held on women’s career in various fields (women career meetups) and the educational program “Women’s Leadership in Technology Companies”.
Diplomas for implementation of women’s support practices were marked by signatories of the Technology Covenant: IT integrator, Miratech, Luxoft, NNEGC ENERGOATOM, SNITE, PROCOM, Astound Commerce, Zhytomyr State Technological University, Vinnytsia National Technical University, Kharkiv National University of Economics named after S. Kuznets, Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics, Eastern Europe Foundation, UNIT factory.
During panel discussions, participants and participants discussed the existence of differences between men and women in the approaches to work, the features of leadership features that are inherent in men and women, the factors influencing the choice of girls technological majors. Of particular interest was the discussion on “What should a technological company, in which girls and women dream to work?”
“Despite the fact that the project is officially completed, organizations and signatories intend to continue and even expand their initiatives and projects in developing the leadership potential of women,” said Olena Tchaikovska, Chairman of the Board of the ST “STEM coalition”.
“STEM-COALITION” is a platform for the association of companies, educational institutions, associations, expert organizations, municipalities and mass media for the sake of improving the quality of STEM education in Ukraine. The main areas of work of the STEM-COALITION are: the development of technological literacy of educational institutions; increasing the number of girls and women in STEM to 30%; the development of the school-company relationship is the university. Read more: http://stem-coalition.org.ua/
“The Technology Pact for Women’s Development at STEM Companies” is a unique project that does not exist in Europe. The goal of the project is to consolidate the efforts of educational institutions and companies to support women in the technological sphere and to reveal their potential. Read more: http://tech4women.info/