In numbers

• 11 of the 26 professional areas of Vocational Education are related to STEM professions: electricity and electronics; energy and water; construction and civil works; mechanical manufacturing; IT and communications; installation and maintenance; image and sound; food industries; wood, furniture and cork; chemistry; and transport and vehicle maintenance are those areas.

• The presence of women and men is not equal in STEM cycles. In general, the female figure is around 24%, something higher in the fields of Chemical or Food industries, among others; but in industrial fields it is reduced to 12%. According to the goal set for 2027, the presence of women in the industrial sector is expected to increase to 20%.

• Although these cycles offer more job opportunities, better salaries and greater professional development, the lack of vocations for women remains a problem that increases the gender gap.

The project, promoted by the Department of Education of the Basque Government through the Deputy Head of Vocational Education, is part of the #STEAM Euskadi strategy that has been in progress for the last few years.

Promoted by the network of public vocational education schools IKASLAN (Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa) and in advance of the network of vocational education schools HETEL, the objectives of the initiative are to promote scientific and technological vocations, eradicate the gender gap and raise awareness of the stereotypes associated with the most masculinized VET cycles.

A subject that has not been passed in VET is still the near absence of women in industrial and technological fields. In STEAM cycles, the presence of women is 24%, but in the industrial sector it is reduced to 12%.

For International Women's Day, NeskUP! has been launched, created by the Basque Vocational Education which brought together the schools of the HETEL Vocational Education network and the public schools of Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa of the IKASLAN network. In total, around a hundred schools from the three territories will take part in this project.

There are still almost no women in scientific and technological VET in the Basque Country, and to end this inequality, the training centers 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 STEAM professional fields. The schools will carry out three actions each academic year to promote scientific and technological vocations, to eliminate the gender gap, to raise awareness about the stereotypes associated with the most masculinized VET cycles.

Behing the name

• HETEL: At HETEL, we want to be a change agent, to promote gender equality in the world of work and to support women in their professional development and growth.

• IKASLAN: We support this project because we believe in gender equality and the diversity of the world of work. We believe that by promoting the training of women in STEAM, we can attract people with multiple skills and talents, promoting inclusion and empowerment in these sectors, thus reducing the gender gap that still exists in the labor market.