Pollinating the Global South with Womens Technology Programs

Amy Beth Prager is an applied mathematician whose research focuses on improving gender (and other forms of) diversity within STEM Her current research proposals, seek to replicate the widespread network of female STEM outreach programs of the Global North in the Global South, where such programs are currently virtually nonexistent.

I have been working with foreign governments to replicate and further scale the Women's STEM/CS Outreach programs at MIT and other research institutions on a truly global scale. I am opting for a written pitch, as opposed to a video pitch because I wish to use the following dropbox link to illustrate my proposed solution to the global "gender gap" in technology. 

My Uruguay Proposal

I am extraordinarily passionate about the issues regarding diversity and inclusivity in the technology sector, especially with respect to gender. Indeed, most recently, the main focus of my research and other professional work has been the promotion of gender equity and the narrowing of the gender gap in STEAM, most importantly within those areas where the need is greatest, fueled by a firm belief that the only way to truly solve the "pipeline problem" is to start with the K- 16 age range, especially at the undergraduate collegiate level. 

The MIT Women's Initiative program emphasizes the importance of creating personalized interactions between schoolgirls and adult women. The enthusiasm shown by MIT women reveals a new and exciting side of STEM to  girls. Girls from around the United States spent time interacting with MIT women who are working in STEM. Our presenters reached young minds and teachers and made a lasting impact all over the states.

Encouraging women to get into STEM fields is important to our future. Thus it is very important to improve the perception of STEM disciplines by  girls in order to encourage them to pursue these fields.

MIT offers Women's Technology Program and Women’s Initiative to its female community. The first invites selected high school teenagers to the university during the summer for providing advanced training and encourage them towards technology fields. The teenagers are assigned to a specific field of engineering based on their application materials and background. The second sends pairs of women affiliated with MIT to secondary schools in order to make presentations to girls about choosing specialties and technology careers. 

We hope to offer programs modeled after these efforts throughout the world, and replicate their  successes.

standardized STEM exams - Enhanced STEM Knowledge of female participants

degree STEM enrollment - enhanced desire to study STEM at the university level

labor force statistics - reducing the gender gap

My solution is innovative with respect to the populations and locations that it serves. Outreach programs to women and underrepresented groups may be common (although not common enough) in the developed, rich world, but can scarcely be found in the developing world, where they are needed the most.

Everything about my solution is designed to empower the mot underprivileged humans of all- women in the developed world. However, these are not the only groups that I wish to reach. I wish to reach all women (as women are underprivileged universally), as well as underrepresented groups in technology as each country seeks to define them.

Universities in the developing world (or potentially, the developed world) will host the programs (or arrange space for) for the young women in STEM outreach programs, just as MIT hosts MIT Womens Technology Program or MIT Womens Initiative.

We plan on applying for grants and other forms of funding from any source that is possible. We hope to establish a nonprofit to apply for and administer our grants. We plan on applying for grants from technical companies such as Google and Microsoft, as well as educational institutions such as MIT.

The resources necessary to initiative and maintain a high quality outreach programs pose significant challenges. We need a recruitment campaign, which may be difficult in less affluent areas due to lack of internet connectivity, or in less educated areas due to lack of qualified students or faculty, or other personnel. Also monetary resources tend to be finite.

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I hope to accomplish the spirit, if not the letter of my Uruguay proposal. I hope to pollinate the world with Women's STEM Outreach programs and close the gender gap in technology worldwide. Sounds too ambitious? Great! I am a dreamer and solver who thinks big!

The proposal as written was developed with the assistance of the faculty of Engineering of University of the Republic, Uruguay, and the Foundation Ceibal, Montevideo. Additional contributions were made by faculty residing in Shenzhen,  China, and Hong Kong SAR.

none that i am aware of