At VigyanShaala, we equip youth with quality STEM skills through project-based learning to enable social and transformational change. Our goal is to facilitate the creation of innovative, youth lead ecosystems for mentoring and STEM skilling at the community level.
Increasing Visibility of Role Models through our SHE for STEMM campaign
Education is the most prolific tool for liberation – social, economic, political and spiritual, which is the bedrock for any just society. Unfortunately, more than often the education of women doesn’t translate into them having agency in their lives and choices. Statistics show that Women are 48.5% of the total population of India but only 27.4% are in the workforce. Nearly 43% STEM Undergraduates are women but constitute <15% of the Indian research and development workforce. Through our on ground experience of engaging with students and teachers we realised first hand that to enhance the participation of girls in STEM disciplines it is of utmost importance to address the socio-cultural issues faced by girls while enhancing the visibility of female role models.
Our flagship program ‘Kalpana’ aims to inspire, nurture and promote girls pursuing undergraduate/ postgraduate degrees in STEMM to achieve their potential and become role-models breaking traditional access barriers. This program with a strong aspect of community involvement and sensitisation is tailored to the needs of girls from a range of socio-economic backgrounds.
Through our 6 week mentoring and leadership accelerator we aim to inculcate and instil the spirit of curiosity, objectivity, tinkering, science and experimentation into the minds of young girls and help them to ‘Lead their Way into STEM careers’. We hope these girls will become educators, innovators and leaders in their communities, which will in turn promote regional growth and economic prosperity across generations.
