UN Women launches a STEM School in Kazakhstan to support the empowerment of women and girls in science
Date:
August 27, Nur-Sultan- UN Women in Kazakhstan launched a new project to strengthen STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills of young women from East Kazakhstan and Kyzylorda regions with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.
The purpose of the project is to increase access and involvement of schoolgirls in grades 9 and 10 from rural areas in STEM education. Along with the establishment of a STEM school, STEM Training for Trainers will be rolled out to help educate trainers from these regions.
The project will aim to empower girls from East Kazakhstan and Kyzylorda and improve their STEM skills and knowledge. Girls will get a chance to take special courses that would aim to further motivate them to enter higher technical education institutions. The selection of students will be on a competitive basis and the most successful candidates will be recommended to universities for educational grants.
Today only 30 percent of researchers worldwide are women, and only 35 percent of all students enrolled in areas related to STEM are women, according to UN Women and UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. "UN Women Kazakhstan is happy to support the government on this important initiative. Bridging the gender gap in STEM is vital to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and creating infrastructure, services, and solutions that work for all people, including solving social problems," said Maria Dotsenko, the Representative of UN Women in Kazakhstan, at the Republican August Conference on "Strategy and practice for the development of STEM education in Kazakhstan".
The STEM school project will be implemented by Caravan of Knowledge, which is an educational organization promoting STEM education in Kazakhstan. "We are planning to engage the private sector in the support of this important initiative. We are open to having dialogue with any business organization which is interested to cooperate on this," Ms. Dotsenko added.
UN Women encourages further investment in STEM education for all women and girls, as well as in career and long-term professional growth opportunities so that everyone can benefit from their innovative contributions and no one would be left behind.
For more information please contact: Dinara Bekturova, UN Women Project Assistant, [ Click to reveal ] , +7 700 271 69 80