IBM signs MoU with Odisha Government to introduce STEM for Girls

A report by the World Economic Forum states that 72 percent of scientific researchers across the world are men.

But the good news is that the report also establishes that India has seen a substantial increase in women studying and working in the engineering field, once seen as a “masculine” discipline.

Despite the welcome advancements in the STEM field, a lot more can be done to attract young girls and women to the sector. We need more women engineers, coders, developers, mathematicians, and physicists.

To facilitate this, several corporates are taking the lead in attracting girls to STEM education.

IBM, on Thursday, announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department of School and Mass Education, Government of Odisha to introduce 'IBM STEM for Girls'.

The programme will launch in more than 100 high secondary schools across districts to advance skills and careers of 20,000 girls and 10,000 boys in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. The collaboration is part of a three-year programme between IBM and Indian state governments to increase the participation of girls and women in STEM careers.

The demand for a highly qualified workforce in India is quickly increasing with the acceleration of emerging technologies like cloud and artificial intelligence (AI). The ‘IBM STEM for Girls’ programme features a comprehensive approach that builds technical capabilities as well as life and self-actualisation skills.

'STEM for Girls' is an IBM Corporate Social Responsibility initiative aimed at improving education-to-work and career pathways for girls studying in government schools. It includes training in digital literacy, coding and technology skills; 21st century skills and career development with an aim to enable girls’ empowerment and increase their interest in STEM education and careers.

“It is important for the entire ecosystem to come together to address the rising skill gap in the country and invest in the future of our workforce. Our collaboration with IBM will equip students with right skills for jobs of the future and represent a diverse workforce," said Chitra Arumugam, Commissioner and Secretary to Government, School and Mass Education Department, Bhubaneswar.

“If we want India’s talent base to compete in the global economy it becomes imperative to upskill them. Our collaboration with Odisha government will help students to better align with market shifts and industry needs. IBM has been at the forefront and investing in the empowerment of the students to make them future ready and increase the talent pool,” said Rumi Mallick Mitra, Leader, Corporate Social Responsibility, IBM India Pvt. Ltd.

In March this year, IBM announced a significant engagement in India to advance the skills and careers of more than two lakh female students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. The collaborations began with signing of agreements with three state governments — Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh — and are planned to widen to several other states. The programme will enrol hundreds of more schools in the coming months.

IBM new collar skilling initiatives in India also include

1. A two-year Advanced Diploma Programme in emerging technologies created in collaboration with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, which will be available to 100 Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), including 50 all-women ITIs, over the next three years.

2. As part of IBM’s ongoing engagement with the Government of India targeting young innovators through the Atal Tinkering Labs initiative, some 4,000 mentors and 600,000 mentees will benefit from a unique AI-powered Mentor Platform.

(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)

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