According to the "
Gender Gap Report 2021" of the World Economic Forum
, out of 156 mapped states,
Italy is in 63rd place
for the composite index of "Gender Gap", which takes into account gender differences in 4 different areas: economic participation and opportunities;
educational level;
health and survival;
political empowerment.
Italy has risen by 13 positions compared to 2020, but still remains behind.
In STEM, the under-representation of women remains evident
, with particular gender gaps in sectors such
as Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Engineering
, where women represent 14%, 32% and 20% respectively. of the workforce.
The situation does not improve by focusing on the possibility of holding top positions.
In these first months of 2022, 32% of women in corporate leadership positions in the world are, with only two percentage points more than the previous year.
In Italy the situation is even more critical:
only 20% of CEOs are women
and this means that we are still far behind the rest of the world.
On the occasion of "International Women's Day", the Fortitude Group, a 100% made in Italy reality created to face the challenges of digital transformation like the international giants of the sector, and SheTech, a non-profit organization that is committed to bridging the gender gap in the STEM sector, they renew their appeal for the growth of female presences in the reference area and confirm the great commitment made to try to change the state of things through a series of training and awareness-raising initiatives.
This is the case
with coding bootcamps
, training meetings in the Front-end area, with the next appointments dedicated to Javascript and React Js, and the #SheTechBreakfast, informal live during which the Role Models tell their experience to young women interested in embarking on a path in STEM.
“The gender gap is a problem that affects the world of work and our sector in particular.
It is no longer possible to ignore it and we need to do more to take a decisive step forward ”, says Leo Pillon, CEO of the Fortitude Group.
“The collaboration with SheTech goes in this direction: increasing the presence of women, with the baggage of skills they carry with them, would significantly help the STEM world pushing it towards rapid development.
Yet a cultural change will be necessary to combat a too deep-rooted trend,
only 10% of the CVs we receive are from women
.
If we then refer to the more “technical” roles, the percentage even drops to 2%.
We urgently need a change of pace in the awareness of the young women themselves
who, also thanks to the stories we present, must become aware of being able to make high-level technology, even better than men! ".
Among the selected Role Models is
Marinella Mastrosimone
, UX / UI Expert, for three years part of the Fortitude Group, which develops software and creates intuitive interfaces that help the user navigate independently within sites and apps.
"In my professional career I have understood that to bridge the gender gap in the STEM world, as in many other sectors, it is necessary to create more and more female models of reference", says Marinella Mastrosimone.
“We must demonstrate, especially to future generations, that certain positions can and must also be filled by female figures.
Women and men reason, generalizing, according to different mental processes.
Including new thought models for this sector favors the innovative process that is indispensable for the historical period we are experiencing.
Among other things, I like to underline how high technology is not only made up of numbers and algorithms, but is necessarily the result of a real process where female empathy plays an important role, not only in relationships, but in find simple and creative solutions to solve complex problems. ".