Jorge Arevalo, Deputy Minister of Vocational Education NeskUP! He took part in the presentation of the project, on March 7, in Gasteiz. The initiative includes the schools of the IKASLAN network of public Vocational Education schools (Araba, Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia) and the schools of the Abantean HETEL network. In total, around one hundred schools from three territories took part in that project.

There are still almost no women in the scientific and technological field of Vocational Education in the Basque Country, and, to put an end to this disparity, the schools have decided to take a step forward. They have made a firm and specific commitment to develop actions aimed at increasing the number of women enrolled in STEM professional fields. The schools will carry out three actions each academic year to promote scientific and technological vocations, to eradicate the gender gap, to raise awareness about the stereotypes associated with the most masculinized cycles of Vocational Education, to recognize the talent of female students of Vocational Education in STEM professional fields and to improve vocational guidance. The initiative was born with the aim of becoming a reference project in the field of promoting STEM vocations.

Web portal

In order to make these actions more visible and to inspire other schools and society in general, the https://neskup.eus/eu/ portal has been created, a platform to empower young girls and end the so-called STEM gender gap. Through this new website, a voice will also be given to the female students who have begun to fight for equality by choosing the professional field in which they will develop their career.

Competition

Vocational schools have also organized the #NeskUP!2023 competition within the framework of the project. Through the Tik Tok platform, participants will have to present a video to invite reflection and help visualize STEM professions. You can participate individually or in a group, through the schools. The name must be given through the form on the website, from March 8. The names of the winners of each category, as well as when and where the award ceremony will take place, will be published on the website from May 8.