MODE 1 presents national campaign titled “Who will tell them?”

Croatia is among the rare countries with a large number of female STEM students, but only 30% of them end up choosing STEM professions.

On the the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which is celebrated on February 11, MODE 1 presented the national campaign ‘Who will tell them?’ with the aim of raising awareness about gender stereotypes, to which children are exposed from an early age and which later influence their choice of occupation. Fortenova group joined the campaign as one of the main sponsors and used the occasion of celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science as an opportunity to raise awareness of the current situation and encourage positive changes.

In 2015 the General Assembly of the United Nations declared February 11 The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, in order to encourage as many girls and women as possible to participate equally in science and additionally contribute to the achievement of the goal of achieving gender equality. The aim of the celebration is to encourage girls and women to choose a career and further training in science, to recognize the achievements of women in science and to eliminate any form of discrimination against women in education and science.

“Although there is a high percentage of female students in Croatia who study maths (65%) and physics (62%), they mostly choose the teaching major, rather than the applied maths and physics majors that lead to better-paid professions,” explains Diana Kobas Dešković, president of the association MODE 1. “Girls often lack self-confidence and put themselves in an economically disadvantaged situation, as they have lower financial expectations when hiring than men. This is contributed by the stereotypes they encounter from early childhood, as well as the possible lack of role models. The key role of teachers is in recognizing and removing stereotypes so that girls and boys can choose their future professions according to their personal talents, abilities and desires.”

One of the Croatian scientists in the atypically female field of science, astrophysics, Prof. dr. sc Vernesa Smolčić, from the Department of Experimental Physics of the Faculty of Science and Mathematics, said: “I fell in love with maths and physics in high school and decided to study physics. I decided on astrophysics as a vocation around the 3rd year of my studies, when I got the opportunity to do my first research on the universe.”. She frequently works with children and youth and tries to motivate them to follow their dreams, no matter how unattainable they may seem. Her example shows that it’s possible for a girl from Croatia to be a successful astrophysicist.

MODE 1, an organization dedicated to the improvement of policies and practices in the field of equality and sustainable development, actively deals with the recognition and suppression of gender stereotypes in education. As part of the project ‘Equality IN Stereotypes OUT – Teachers for future generations’, they organize free workshops in schools across Croatia. “One of the goals of the project is to encourage more girls to choose STEM education and careers, and to direct them to thinking about the jobs of the future,” concluded Kobas Dešković.

Workshops were held for over 500 teachers and professional associates from more than 40 schools in Croatia, during the last year. A national awareness campaign called ‘Who will tell them’ is underway, in order to involve as many teachers and educators as possible, as they are real agents of change in kindergartens and schools. Fortenova group has joined this cause as one of the main sponsors.

“Overcoming gender stereotypes in science is just one important segment of the comprehensive change in the perception of the position of women in society, which, as this initiative well recognized, begins at an early age. In addition to the immediate family, the bearers of this change are also teachers and other professional associates in schools, because they greatly influence the creation of behavior patterns, but also the first choices of children and youth, including those related to interests and the choice of profession. As a signatory of the Charter on Diversity, the Fortenova Group strongly advocates a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination in all its companies, so our support for this campaign is part of that policy,” commented Fabris Peruško, CEO and member of the Board of Directors of the Fortenova Group.

The workshops are held until the end of April 2023.