Goal

Female professionals are visiting schools in Spain to inspire young girls to pursue careers in science and technology. Their goal is to inspire children and help address the lack of female role models.

Measure

A group of professional women are visiting schools in order to help children break down stereotypes. At the beginning of the activity, children are shown work accessories and they have to imagine to whom they belong and who uses them. Usually all the answers are “men use these objects”.

After every child has answered, the real owners (all women) go in the classroom and children are surprised to see that they were wrong and that all of them are women. They can now ask women questions about their jobs.

Outcome

Children become aware that there are no jobs for women or jobs for men, anyone can apply to those jobs.  This activity helps them break down stereotypes and open their minds.

Sources:

[1] Press article on El País newspaper.
https://elpais.com/economia/2018/05/22/actualidad/1527002625_327491.htm

[1] Video of El País describing this initiative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbW9i4-NGQs