WE HUB, the Government of Telangana’s first and only state-led incubator to foster and promote women’s entrepreneurship, launched its second cohort of the ‘GIRLS IN STE(A)M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics)’ program. WE HUB designed the eight-week program to enable girls aged 13-17 to choose and explore entrepreneurship through STE(A)M (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills. The students will get hands-on learning in robotics, 3D Designs and Printing, Ham radio, Automation, Pixels to Picture, Aero Modelling, and Data Science. 600 students from 20 schools are part of this cohort.
With the rise of technology across every sphere of society, STE(A)M Education is critical for accelerating technology-led economic growth and, consequently, India’s future development. To further spur the increase in the representation of Women in STE(A)M and broaden the funnel, it is imperative to invest in girls’ participation in STE(A)M courses.
The 20 schools which have been onboarded for this cohort are Hyderabad Public School Ramanthapur, Silver Oaks International, Meridian International (3 Branches), Birla Open Minds, Delhi Public Schools (4 Branches), CRPF Public School, Rockwell International, P. Obul Reddy Public School, Akshara Vaagdevi International, Pallavi Model School, Chirec International, Abhaya Waldorf School, and Rainbow Model high school.
Jayesh Ranjan IAS, Principal Secretary to the Government of Telangana, said, “Women make up nearly 43 percent of the total graduates in STE(A)M, but constitute just 14 percent of scientists, engineers, and technologists in research development institutions and universities, highlighting a gap between women’s education and careers. Therefore, it is imperative to work towards breaking gender stereotypes through early engagement of students and broaden the funnel for women to choose technology. The Girls in STE(A)M program of WE HUB is a means to create an inclusive economy when it comes to technology and drive innovation across all disciplines.
Deepthi Ravula, CEO of WE HUB, said, “In the four years of WE Hub’s work, we have noticed that the number of women entering into technological entrepreneurship is minimal. This has led us to strategise for a mechanism that addresses the strong need for cultivating STE(A)M skills and mindset among young girls, thereby creating pathways to ensure gender parity.
With the ‘Girls in STE(A)M’ program, the endeavor is to increase the influence and profile of women in STE(A)M, attain their potential to become future leaders, and uncover Tech CEOs. We look forward to nurturing confidence and competence in this sector and developing capabilities such as critical thinking and problem-solving, creativity and systems thinking, and social skills and teamwork amongst selected students.”
As part of the first cohort of the ‘GIRL IN STE(A) M’ program, WE HUB, in collaboration with Women in Data Science of Stanford University and Mathworks, equipped 100 female students across three states in India to apply the principles of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence to solve real-world problems. In addition, 19 faculty members across 6 International schools across India were trained as a part of the Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop. The cohort saw 73% of students develop projects and successfully demonstrate those before eminent personalities across industry and academia.
Over the past four years, WE-HUB has been actively working towards enabling Women-led start-ups across sectors to scale and accelerate through global market access. Till now, WE-HUB has incubated 238 technology-enabled start-ups by Women founders.
