The project FEMST was born out of the challenges posed by gender stereotypes with regards to limiting women’s potential and how these stereotypes contribute to the perpetuation of gender inequality within the STEM field. The project directly targets primary education teachers and students with an approach that involves innovative materials and tools in order to encourage more girls to become involved in STEM. As general objectives, the project aims to • encourage gender-responsive training approaches for teachers and counsellors that focus on tackling gender biases in the classroom • train primary school teachers for the implementation of the Curriculum and the application of the tools contain therein in their own teaching, regardless of subject • disseminate the Animated Series of Stories and other activities/tools with children in the classroom through the teachers • facilitate the dissemination and sustainability of project results involving key stakeholders and policy makers at national and EU level • enable female students to develop their scientific capacities and inspire them to get involved in STEM-related activities overcoming gender prejudice in the field.
Despite the outstanding progress of the last decades in achieving gender equality in the STEM field, gender stereotypes and biases about males and females are still very much ingrained into the field and into society at large. The biases may be subtle, but can have severe consequences. According to an article published by Harvard University , “Stubborn beliefs cultivated from an early age such as “girls are bad at math,” “girls are better at cooking,” […] pave the way to sobering statistics about the number of female leaders in business and politics”. Indeed, the strong correlation between the existing gender stereotypes and how they can affect the STEM path of both girls and boys is indisputable. Gender norms and stereotypes encourage the formation of gendered identities and can determine power relations that can constrain the potential of all genders. These stereotypes can be so harmful as to influence the expectations of men and women regarding their career choice, establishing a direct relation to their freedoms, potential and choices. It is evident that the EU recognises the huge efforts that need to be done until gender equality is achieved in all Member States. Our project wants to specifically address this gap.