STEAM GIRLS

Women and science. Women and technology. Women and engineering and mathematics.

A relationship that, unfortunately, materializes very rarely, considering instead the qualities that the pink sphere possesses in their approach and study. Yet history is full of female personalities who made science great. One of these is the figure of Ada Lovelace, a mathematician and writer who lived in the first half of the nineteenth century, for whom tomorrow, every second Tuesday in October, marks the day of remembrance, Ada Lovelace Day. international dedicated to women engaged in scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical careers and to female students who want to undertake studies in these fields.

At the Manetti Porciatti Technology Center in Grosseto it was decided to bring forward this day, celebrating it with a meeting attended by the principal, Claudio Simoni, and professors Sabrina Giuliano and Maria Pia Betti. So the forty-six students, who make up the pink part of the Polo, met and discussed proposals to start the STEAM Girls projects this school year. Thus, in addition to welcoming and getting to know the fourteen first year students, the meeting made it possible to structure the activity and areas of intervention during the school year. In particular, it was decided to participate in the educational competition "On the streets of Parity", proposed by the Female Toponymy Association, and in the event commemorating the day of the birth of Ada Lovelace, which the Polo Tecnologico Manetti Porciatti will organize on 10 December , dedicated to women engaged in STEAM activities and studies.

Furthermore, it was decided to continue Polo Social, with the presence of some interventions by the students on the school's Facebook and Instagram channels and the management of the "STEAM Girls" page on the orientation website, which in the next few days will be enriched with the inclusion of a section dedicated to Ada Lovelace.

“I must say that an excellent job was done by the two teachers, whom I thank - commented the head teacher of the Polo, Claudio Simoni - Our school cannot ignore the presence of women. This would mean not giving the right opportunities to a large portion of the school population who would decide in a not fully conscious manner to a priori exclude a scientific-based education, exceeding their aspirations and influencing their future. A modern society cannot allow this and therefore I invite, especially girls, to clear from their minds the idea that the Manetti Porciatti Technological Center is a school related only to boys. This is not the case. And forty-six students have decided to invest in our training offer, choosing to adhere to their own ambitions, predispositions, attitudes and visions of the future. The same ones - he concludes - that have led women like Lovelace and many others to emerge in fields, too often male-driven, with sensational personal successes and fulfilling work activities.”