In order to learn about and promote the dissemination of various initiatives within the scope of digital training and women’s participation in ICT, INCoDe.2030 accompanied the Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality, Rosa Monteiro, on visits to companies, schools and other institutions with projects in the scope of digital training and women’s participation in ICT.
The visits took place between January 13 and 26 2022. The first company we visited was Huawei, where it was possible to learn about projects and programs to strengthen digital literacy, promote women’s participation in technological and digital jobs, training programs for young female students from all over Europe, such as SmartBus, the Summer School for Female Leadership in the Digital Age and the scholarship program que conta com o apoio do INCoDe.2030 supported by INCoDe.2030. On the day of the visit, Huawei signed the Alliance for Equality in ICT.
Visitámos depois a Universidade de Aveiro, onde foi possível conhecer os projetos de investigação e desenvolvimento de mulheres investigadoras nas áreas STEM da Universidade. Ficámos também a conhecer o Plano de Igualdade de Género da Universidade de Aveiro 2021-2025.
We then visited the University of Aveiro, where it was possible to learn about the research and development projects of women researchers in the STEM areas of the University. We also learned about the Gender Equality Plan of the University of Aveiro 2021-2025.
On the third day of visits, we visited the e-Redes company, where we learned about their concerns and projects/measures to attract women to work in the company, namely the shortage of electricians and possible strategies to combat sexual segregation in this sector. We met two of the company’s workers who shared their educational and professional experience in this field. E-Redes has just joined the “Engineers for a day” program and the Alliance for Equality in ICT.
On January 19 and 20 we headed to the north of the country, where we attended a Computational Thinking class, taught by MathGurl Inês Guimarães from ENSICO, at Escola Francisco Torrinha – OPorto. There are now 40 classes in 7 schools and more than 1200 students participate daily in these Computational Thinking classes.
Afterwards, we visited Natixis to learn about its policies to promote equality, diversity and conciliation. They are partners of “Engineers for a day” and already have 30% of women on their staff, mentoring programs for student girls and their families; non-discrimination policies for LGBTI people; and diversity management. At the same time, they created the WINN Women In Natixis Network community, which includes, in addition to women, several men from the company in a work of organizational training for equality.
Also in the North, on January 20 in the morning we visited the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo (IPVC), which signed the Alliance for Equality in ICT, also joining the network of partnerships of “Engineers for a day”. IPVC presented the BAITS project with concrete measures to attract students to STEAM areas, as well as its plan for equality.
In the afternoon we visited PRIMAVERA Business Software Solutions, the largest Portuguese software company, where we got to know the policies and practices of Citizenship, Equality and Reconciliation of personal, professional and family life. We discussed joining the Alliance for Equality in ICT and the Pact for Conciliation, as well as concrete measures that the company can adopt in order to increase the already 36% of women in its workforce. PRIMAVERA participates in WomanHack, an event that promotes the recruitment of women in the area of technology in companies committed to diversity.
Finally, on January 26, we visited Cisco, which presented its practices to promote reconciliation between personal, professional and family life, to promote Cisco Networking Academy digital skills, and its internal networks for training and reinforcing leadership of women, such as the WISE program that promotes women’s participation in technological professions. Cisco signed the Alliance for Equality in ICT, and established a new partnership with the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality, in order to expand the dissemination and transference of its practices in various areas of equality promotion.