The judges have voted, and two National Organizers with great ideas to get more girls into robotics competitions has received the Girls in STEM Award!
The Girls in STEM Award is sponsored by our global technology sponsor Juniper Networks, and there are two categories – Past Projects and Future Projects. The winners were revealed on November 15 at the closing ceremony of WRO2020-X, this year’s big online event. So, without further ado… (drumroll) – here they are:
Past Project – Robot Olympiad Schweiz
Future Project – STEM Education Organization for Cambodia
Each winner receive a prize of US$5,000 sponsored by Premium Partner Juniper Networks. World Robot Olympiad™ believes that this award can change lives. Because with it our National Organizers can make more girls discover that they can learn and master coding and robotics, and that it’s fun – a great way to inspire more girls to go after a STEM education.
Already more girls in Switzerland
The National Organizer in Switzerland, led by Monika Koch, began their ‘Mehr Girls in Robotik!’ project in 2019. From 2019 to 2020 they have more than doubled the number of female participants in Switzerland!
The National Organizer’s approach has been to give robotics kits and learning materials from LEGO to team coaches when they registered an all-girls team. The kits were sponsored by a fund for gender balance.
To raise awareness for the project Monika Koch and her team ran a national education campaign targeting all schools, to highlight benefits and opportunities of STEM education for girls. They also asked participating girls to write a blog on www.worldrobotolympiad.ch. The initiatives has led to coaches and teachers directly addressing girls and encouraging them to participate in World Robot Olympiad. Coaches also invest more time to support their all-female teams.
