Empowering women's digital literacy with transformative learning: Reducing the gap in the T of STEM Academic Article in Scopus uri icon

abstract

  • © 2020 ACM.There is no doubt that the world of science is evolving rapidly, opening the door to potential new research that aims to secure a better future for humanity as a whole. However, scientists all over the world have identified a common problem all over the globe: There is a strong gap in the world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Statistics gathered through numerous research show that women make up a lesser percentage in the workforce, and girls and women are limited in their training to delve into these fields of study. The project described and presented in this manuscript is one of these efforts: The Women in Action project had a specific goal: To help women in vulnerable situations to develop their digital and entrepreneurship skills in Monterrey and Tijuana, Mexico. The workshop was active during the years 2017 to 2019. This document describes the core elements of the program, it's theoretical framework and some of the results gathered from video interviews and field notes taken by the facilitators during its active period, in order to help share the experience and lessons gathered through the extension of this project. The core message that wants to be delivered through this document is the following: If given the opportunity, women from diverse backgrounds demonstrated a fierce thirst for knowledge to hone their digital literacy skills. More efforts to provide these sorts of opportunities in the future will definitely have an impact in the long run if we want to reduce the gap of STEM.

publication date

  • October 21, 2020