Tecnolochicas

STEM remains a male dominated field. Representation matters, the diversity of people can really set the outcomes and currently, as a society, we are losing talented and valuable women. Our solution is to engage girls in STEM at an early stage. We work with vulnerable communities because is where educational inequality is persistent.

We will empower 3000 girls, through learning of basic coding skills, machine learning and AI. It also includes entrepreneurial skills, the build up of self confidence, the opportunity to create their own project and most of all, the creation of a community. For the post-covid world, it is important to break barriers and tackle inequality. This project gives the skills to tear down the lack of access to the STEM sector. The girls we inspire today, will pave the way for those of tomorrow. Empowered women empower more women.

The problem we want  to solve is the lack of female participation in education and jobs in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) areas in Mexico. Research shows that only  9% of young girls show interest in STEM, and no more than 38% of women study a STEM-related career. This is due to the educational inequality that exists, especially in public schools in Mexico, where there are no technology subjects. Studies also suggest that it can be attributed to the contrast in confidence and interest in these subjects especially in primary and secondary education. We want to change this. We want girls and young women to tackle stereotypes, build confidence and have the possibility to be part of the community and the STEM careers that will shape innovative solutions for our current challenges.

Our solution, Tecnolochicas, seeks to empower girls and young women between 12 and 17 years old through the opportunity of technological creation. We believe that more women in the STEM sector means more opportunities for them but also for the sector as a whole, diversity and inclusiveness feeds more integral solutions for today’s challenges. 

What we do is give tools, skills and training to girls and young women in vulnerable communities, prioritizing working with public schools in informal settlements around Mexico. Our curriculum is divided in four parts: web design and coding, app creation, robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Each one with a duration of 20 hours is divided into 5 sessions of 4 hours each: two hours is theory and two hours of collective and practical work. Due to the current health crisis, our program now has the possibility to be full digital, hybrid or in person with a limited capacity. 

Our process throughout the training is to inspire, empower and create a community of support for girls and young women to study a career related to STEM, and acquire tools of self confidence and creative learning that will help them close the gender gap in the sector.

Our solution prioritizes girls and young women as part of a vulnerable community. There are multiple factors that contribute to being marginalized in Mexico, we take into account that they are part of a family with an income less than $500 USD a month, live in informal settlements and are part of the public education system. However, we will not deny access if any girl or young woman knows about the training and wants to participate. 

Our process is a hands-on inquiry model, gender, culturally and class responsive in order to tackle the current bias in STEM fields. From the beginning the mentors work closely with the girls and young women to align interests, resources and priorities, to guarantee the success of the training. 

This project will impact their lives because in marginalized communities, there is a lack of role models for young girls to inspire them. By providing them with a community to look up to, change how they think about science, technology, engineering and math and learn how fun and rewarding it is to finish a project along with their peers and female mentors. 

Tecnolochicas is focused on helping high school girls to develop hard and soft skills in technology issues such as computer science, it is concerned with generating a comprehensive education that helps them develop skills and aptitudes necessary for the future. We seek that the impact to the students can be through different methodologies to reach women with different socioeconomic conditions. 

The program is related to the challenge as it seeks to generate better opportunities for the underrepresented communities of women in Mexico, who today do not even think they can dedicate themselves or seek opportunities within the STEM areas.

Tecnolochicas is at the stage of scaling up, since we already have an operational model that has been tested and that allows us to reach students in different regions of the republic. However, as in any program, we are now focused on reaching more vulnerable girls and young women from different states who study in public schools and have no access to a course or class related to technology. We also know that the program should not be static and must find continuous improvement of the tools used throughout the workshops to provide a comprehensive education in technology to young Mexican women, and meet their needs in this area.

The approach to our idea includes 3 points of view that allow us to create a space for gender equity. The first is role modeling. We believe that giving girls someone to look up to who comes from their own cultural background and context will help them identify and believe that the goal is achievable for them as well. Secondly we have project-based learning, where girls step forward and not only see people who have done it, but do it themselves, which helps them trust and believe in themselves. Finally, community weaving. Girls in middle school need to belong somewhere, and with this community we give them a space where they feel safe, they feel support and they also have the reinforcement that they are doing something positive that will lead them in the future to new opportunities.

Tecnolochicas take place virtually, in person and even onTV, which generates a greater reach for girls and young women and includes those that do not have access to a computer or to internet connection. 

We hope that in the future the impact of Tecnolochicas will not be only for high school and college girls, but that it will be a program that helps to generate awareness in all members of the community so that in the future there will be no need to program to integrate women into a field to which they belong because they are already welcome and are not seen as external agents.

The core technology of Tecnolochicas is audiovisual media and software applications. 

Tecnolochicas started as a media campaign featuring successful Latina women in STEM to motivate and raise awareness. However after the first campaigns it was defined that it was necessary to have a more personal reach with the students and that not only motivate but also show the way and help them develop skills to belong in the future to the community and be a woman in STEM. 

That is why the Tecnolochicas platform was created through which high school girls can register to take workshops, gain knowledge, develop skills and form a community through virtual or face-to-face methods.

Nowadays, through the platform, students can register to be part of Tecnolochicas, however in the future we would like to upload the contents to have a self-learning modality and generate an international community among all the students and teachers who participate in Tecnolochicas.

Our program uses two of the most common technologies around the world. The first are educational audiovisual resources which, according to studies, help us reach a larger population, especially if these resources are broadcasted on television, since 95% of Mexicans have a television at home with open signal (Statista Research Department, 2020). This audiovisual campaign also allows us to make ourselves known and motivate girls through the life stories of successful women in STEM to become part of this community and help close the gender gap.

On the other hand, the other technological tool used by Tecnolochicas is a web platform where students can register and that in the future we want to develop so that the course can be taken in a self-taught way by the students. According to Juan Carlos Millan (2018) the educational web platforms are a great tool that facilitates the operational process of education and gives more room and time to generate better resources and educational materials. It also helps students to create critical thinking and learn skills such as time management, structure and responsibility that they can use in the future to get a job.

There are no risks associated directly with our solution. However, in our initial planning we take into account that we might not reach all the communities we want to reach. Our risk assessment includes the creation of different scenarios to envision reaching out to different communities in different manners. For that, we will work closely not only with public schools, academic and educational institutions, but also local non-governmental institutions, activists and feminist organizations.

Until now, we have positively impacted the lives of more than 5,000 girls and young women in the past five years. Young girls from immigrant latin families in the United States, as well as part of marginalized communities in Mexico. Next year our aim is to reach 3,000 in primary and secondary public schools that currently do not have access to technology knowledge. Every year, our aim is to increase our number of participants until we reach 10,000 young women and girls per year, thus, generating a massive community and support network of women in STEM.

The most important thing for us is to close the existent gender gap in the STEM sector. Especially in Mexico, there is an overwhelming male dominance in these academic careers but also in the professional realm. Within the next year, we will train 3,000 girls and young women in middle school. This will give them greater opportunities to take part in the economy generated by technology, science and engineering. Additionally, we will have 400 female mentors for them, part of public universities, currently studying STEM. For the next five years we envision reaching 20,000 girls and young women, and the full consolidation of a community of support and STEM knowledge for women. 

The noble and inspiring thing of this project is the multiplier effect of women empowering women. The girls we will train today will not only be transformative to them but also, they will serve as an example to challenge negative stereotypes about women in STEM, for the girls and young women to come. Shaping the perceptions and attitudes toward pursuing a career in the STEM workforce will ultimately, as well, strengthen the field as a whole. Systematically voices have been left out of science and technology, and we want to reverse that. The many great discoveries and solutions to come, will come from a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds.

The impact of the project is measured, firstly, by the number of girls we impact and train in STEM-related subjects. We then administer surveys that allow us to learn about the difference girls make towards STEM, having a college degree in a STEM major, working in a STEM field, and developing confidence to succeed in the future. 

This survey also helps us measure the development of critical characteristics for the future that the program was able to develop in the girls, and with a deliverable, we are able to substantiate the technical skills generated in the young trainees. 

On the other hand we also measure the number of viewers that we have in each campaign, in order to learn what is the impact of the audiovisual media used in Tecnolochicas.

4 people as full-time staff

The core team working in this project are two women (Gisela Sierra and Valentina Delgado) with a deep understanding on education and gender. The broader team (Nomara Parra and Alejandro Villanueva) has a combined experience of 50 years in fields of technology and social innovation. The diversity of our team gives us a unique sensitivity for this project and to put our heart to it. 

Alejandro Villanueva. Has experience in the financial sector and entrepreneurship programs. More recently, as the Executive Director of Televisa Foundation, has put innovative education for girls and young women as a priority for the organization. For Tecnolochicas, he will guarantee the financial feasibility of the project and plan a sustainable strategy. 

Nomara Parra. Is a leader in social responsibility and strategy alliances. As the head of Cuantrix (coding learning for young kids in Mexico) of the Foundation, the project umbrella where Tecnolochicas emanates, she has consolidated the project in the country. For Tecnolochicas, she will provide innovative ideas to scale and strengthen the project. 

Valentina Delgado. As a geographer and gender specialist, she has worked for the production of urban justice, implementation of projects on gender equity and research about vulnerable communities. As the leader of the project, she will bring her gender experience to the project to guarantee social justice and equity. 

Gisela Sierra. As an education specialist and with experience of the early years of the project, she will bring a critical eye to keep improving the project and monitor the results. 

The Tecnolochicas team considers that the beginning of any program that seeks to generate gender equality should take place within it. That is why the team is 90% conformed by women of different careers and social contexts, seeking that they can contribute key ideas from their experience to improve the impact and benefits of the program. They are also in continuous preparation to generate a better development of their skills.

Tecnolochicas has various allies in both Mexico and the United States, which help for the growth and improvement of the program to meet the objectives set.

Tecnolochicas not only wants to participate in TPrize Challenge for the economic recognition that is provided, but also for the support that can be given by MIT Solve that will allow us to have a larger scale growth. By growth we mean not only the number of beneficiaries, but also a growth in the improvement of the program.

We would love to receive feedback from you to generate better strategies and tools to carry out the program and reach students of diverse profiles, and as well get the opportunity to dialogue about the importance of this type of initiatives that help reduce the educational gap that exists regarding people's gender. 

In Tecnolochicas we would like to receive advice and points of view regarding the development of a platform that can host the Tecnolochicas community and that can also provide individual follow-up to each of the students who decide to take part in the workshops. 

We would also like to know different methodologies or tools to evaluate the impact of the program to find the weak points and opportunities for improvement, in order to provide a better educational service that meets the needs of the students.

OCDE, ONU, BID