{"id":1770,"date":"2021-02-01T12:10:43","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T12:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/north-america\/diversity-4-tech\/tech-for-girls\/?p=1770"},"modified":"2021-02-02T11:49:55","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T11:49:55","slug":"2020-workshop-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/north-america\/diversity-4-tech\/tech-for-girls\/news\/2020-workshop-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Calling the tech industry:
Hear from your next generation of female digital talent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting young women into science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEAM) is a much talked about topic, and one that the tech industry must continue to take action on. <\/strong><\/h4>\n

Luckily, the restrictions of 2020 did not slow this down.<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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In September 2019, the GSMA took Tech4Girls to the EQUALS Global Partnership for Digital Gender Equality, to scale the initiative globally. \u00a0This partnership enabled the expansion of Tech4Girls by leveraging EQUALS members\u2019 expertise in creating a training approach that has lasting educational impact. Working with these members and main donor, Verizon, we rolled out a series of socially distanced and virtual workshops at the end of 2020, training 442 underserved girls and young women<\/strong> across five countries<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The workshops, which took place in Kenya, Pakistan, Trinidad, Jamaica, and the US<\/strong>, ranged from one-day events to five-week courses, during which participants learnt about different technologies, heard from industry experts, and gained a better understanding of the life-changing possibilities of careers in tech.<\/p>\n

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Stellah Serem<\/a>, a 24-year old woman from Kenya, says that girls \u201cgirls should be encouraged from a young age. Career guidance in schools should be revolutionized to accommodate both girls and boys in all career fields, and women should be empowered to pursue careers in tech. School curricula should be skills-based so that girls\u2019 passions and potential are built up while they\u2019re still young\u201d.<\/p>\n

This workshop series aimed to do just this; giving girls hand-on experience of building tech platforms and making them feel welcome in a traditionally male-dominated industry. One project winner said the workshops gave \u201cclarity to achieve my goals\u201d, and a participant from Trinidad explained;<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt has helped me with my vision, to build up my self-esteem, and my confidence has sky-rocketed!\u201d<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Specifically, the Tech4Girls workshop objectives were to:<\/strong><\/p>\n