Why are so few girls deciding to study careers linked to science and engineering when they leave high school?

Dr. Valeria del Campo, Principal Investigator (UTFSM), was interviewed in August 2023 on Radio Infinita’s Work Café Santander program, where she spoke about the challenges of the WISE: Women Inspiring Solar Engineering program.

We must keep in mind that in Chile there is a gender gap in STEM areas (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). 

Statistics from the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality say that only 1 in 4 enrollments in these careers correspond to women.

In this regard, Dr. Valeria del Campo explains that it is due to several factors.

“One of these is that there is the idea that to study engineering you have to be super intelligent and I want to demystify that: you have to be hard-working, disciplined, you have to like what you are doing. The other point is to start paying more attention to the development of girls at school in science and mathematics,” she reflects.

You can watch the full interview on our YouTube channel:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXykTfvYp18&t=1s