Redeia has opened the team registration period for a new edition of RedeSTEAM, a competition to break the gender gap in science and technology, encouraging the study of STEAM disciplines among young girls. The initiative is aimed at female students in the 3rd and 4th years of Secondary Education or equivalent Vocational Training, i.e. in the 14-16 age group, a stage in which many girls abandon the idea of studying STEAM subjects, even though their grades are similar or even higher than those of their male peers.

"We are heading towards a world that is neither sustainable, fair nor inclusive unless women are present in the economic and academic spheres from which the future is built. Spain will miss out on their talent and they will be left out of the productive sectors with the greatest capacity for growth and job creation in the coming decades", stated Beatriz Corredor, chairwoman of Redeia.

Corredor added: "We need to incorporate more women to face the challenges posed by the energy transition and digital transformation in the Redeia companies —Red Eléctrica, Hispasat, Elewit, Redinter and Reintel—, all of which are technology companies. With RedeSTEAM we are addressing the root of the problem by banishing the stereotypes that keep girls, in particular, away from technology careers".

According to the Equality in Figures report of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training in 2023, the presence of women in scientific-technological disciplines is still much lower both in the High School as well as in Vocational Training and university degrees. The biggest gap exists in computer science, where female students represent only 13.5% in higher vocational training cycles and 14.1% in universities.

This is happening at a time when it is precisely technological and digital profiles that are set to revolutionise the labour market, as shown in the latest LinkedIn’s Booming Jobs in Spain report. Technological positions experienced a growth of 38% in 2020 and engineering positions increased by 63%. However, in both cases, female hires did not reach 15%.

Linking STEAM to sustainable development

RedeSTEAM strives to make science, engineering, mathematics and technology more attractive to girls by linking these disciplines to solving current social and environmental problems, also incorporating arts and humanities to this end.

The competition challenges students to create technological and scientific projects that contribute to a more sustainable world. There are three challenges to which they can propose solutions:

• Electricity Challenge, designing a proposal based on electricity that contributes to accelerate the process of decarbonisation, such as improving energy efficiency or increasing the use of renewable energies.
• Telecommunications Challenge, i.e. an idea that applies telecommunications and digitalisation to issues such as sustainable mobility, recycling or improving the welfare of vulnerable groups, among others.
• SDG Challenge, for innovative solutions to problems raised in the Sustainable Development Goals, such as poverty, gender inequality or environmental efforts.

Students participate in teams of a maximum of five members. Two winning teams are chosen for each challenge. In addition to awarding prizes to each student, RedeSTEAM rewards the schools with equipment and materials amounting to 3,000 euros for STEAM-themed laboratories and classrooms.

Registration is open until 30 April and can be completed via the following website redesteam.es The awards ceremony will take place at the end of June in Madrid and the winners will participate in workshops to promote their STEAM vocations.

RedeSTEAM was created in 2022 within the framework of the "STEAM Alliance for Female Talent. Girls taking up science", of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, of which Redeia is a member.

One hundred students from 16 schools in Andalusia (Granada and Malaga), Cantabria, the Canary Islands (Las Palmas), Catalonia (Girona), Valencia (Castellón), Castilla-La Mancha (Guadalajara), Castilla y León (Valladolid), Madrid and La Rioja took part in the first edition.

The Minister of Education, Pilar Alegría, presented the awards and stressed that "more female talent in the technology sectors, more digitalisation and more lifelong learning will better prepare us for the future".