O1: We wanted to create a forum where girls can network, find inspiration via female role models, meet them and learn about STEM education. O2: We wanted the Science Community to have 1) a public area that is easy to go to for everybody including teachers and parents and 2) a private area for girls only which is a private safe area for girls where it is ok to be who you are, ask silly questions (many girls are afraid of making mistakes/ others laugh of them) O3: To have a camp in France and in Denmark with female role models and hands-on workshops to show girls the opportunities in STEM careers and see that STEM females are “normal” females O4: To make some Train the Trainer materials for role models and some materials for everybody to be inspired by in case they want to replicate the camps O5: To test the Science Community concept with two pilots in France and Denmark to see what needs to be changed eventually and to plan its scaleup to other EU countries O6: The project aims at generating behavior change in teenage girls to consider STEM a feasible option for their future, developing a new narrative and awareness
Teenage girls in both Denmark and France are still often discouraged from choosing STEM pathways. Across Europe, girls remain underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics not because they lack talent or curiosity, but because stereotypes, limited female role models and early self-doubt still push many away. We applied for this project to address this shared challenge in two national contexts while also responding to Europe’s wider need for more STEM talent, especially for the green and digital transitions. STEM4GIRLS was therefore designed as a French-Danish cooperation to give girls safe learning spaces, relatable female role models and hands-on STEM experiences, while also testing how the approach should be adapted across different cultural and linguistic settings.