STEM WOMEN CONGRESS, the women’s empowerment congress in the technological world, has landed in Madrid with great participation success. More than 500 people have attended in person and around 100 have followed it online. Without a doubt, a very good reception for what has been the first edition held in Madrid, after five editions of growth in Barcelona.

The event has hosted prominent personalities from the STEM field and internationally renowned companies. At the same time, the conclusions of the fourth Annual Report have been presented, a study that analyzes the STEM initiatives carried out during the year 2022, and the STEM Awards have been presented to projects that break inequality and gender stereotypes in the world. sector.

The Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, was in charge of closing the event and did so by vindicating the role of women to continue advancing in society. Regarding this fight, Sánchez said “There are reasons to be optimistic but also to be alert and cautious. We must continue to champion the defense of a more just society where women do not find barriers to devoting themselves to STEM careers.”

Annual Report

During the SWC, the SWC Annual Report 2023 was presented, which last year already revealed that we are only impacting 1% of the population of Spanish girls. This study is carried out through the compilation of data from all the initiatives detected in Spain that quantify their actions, which allows us to have an x-ray of the existing initiatives and classify them by segment (inspiration, career and entrepreneurship), and by data ( age, territories, types of activity, etc.), revealing the gaps where we must act.

Regarding the annual report, the organization has made a demand for not leaving Baccalaureate girls without the support of initiatives, whatever the itinerary they decide. “Let’s give names and surnames to the communities of women that actively energize activities in favor of diversity, they are initiatives that impact society and must be measured. We need this data to set objectives, activate and measure our progress.”

Personalities from the institutional world

SWC has the support of Spanish and European institutions. Personalities such as Minister Raquel Sánchez, and others such as Mercedes Marín García, General Director of Bilingualism and Teaching Quality of the Community of Madrid, in charge of opening the event, have participated in the Madrid edition. Other personalities have also participated such as Silvia Roldán, CEO of Metro de Madrid, Elena Salgado, President of the ABERTIS Foundation or María Luisa Domínguez, President of Adif and Adif AV.

The congress had a prestigious panel with national and international professionals. Among them, it is worth highlighting the first female director of a Moto3 team, Aurora Angelucci, who came from Rome expressly for the occasion or Lucía Sixto, media manager of the European Patent Office who has presented the patent report of the European Patent Office that reveals that 13.2% of inventors in Europe are women. Furthermore, it highlights that, although the rate of female inventors in Europe has been increasing in recent decades (from only 2% at the end of the decade from 1970 to 13.2% in 2019), a strong gender gap continues to exist. María Seoane, THEAD System Project Director will explain a programming system for people with different disabilities.

Throughout the morning, more than 40 leading professionals have passed on stage, with whose example and experience we want to inspire society to achieve a world of equal opportunities between men and women in the STEM sector. In addition, SWC wants to create a joint action plan, among all institutions and organizations that support the STEM field and the women’s field.