On Monday, June 8th, I attended the final event of the STEM UP project, supported by the Digital Republic Fund. This initiative involved hundreds of students from Piedmont, Tuscany, and Liguria, introducing them to science and technology.
The project data tells us a reality we know well, but which we cannot consider inevitable: out of 710 participants, 237 were girls, just over one in three. In some schools, parity is close, while in others, the female presence remains very low.
It’s not a question of ability. It’s a question of expectations, cultural models, stereotypes, and opportunity.
During my speech, I addressed my topics: gender bias, how it still influences educational and professional paths, and how artificial intelligence systems, when trained on data, reflect discrimination from the past and present.
But the message I wanted to leave the girls was above all else: “Don’t wait for someone to tell you you’re right for STEM.”
STEM fields need your perspective, your intelligence, your questions. Artificial intelligence, the digital transition, and the technologies transforming the world cannot be built by just one half of society.
This is why it is essential to continue investing in guidance, positive role models, mentoring, and programs that help girls and boys freely choose their future, without letting stereotypes decide for them.
As Grace Murray Hopper once said: “The most dangerous phrase of all is: we’ve always done it this way.”
Perhaps the most important challenge is precisely this: to stop doing what we’ve always done.
