More women in a male-dominated world

Although women are still in the minority at Gibotech, more women have been hired over the past year than ever before at this male-dominated robotics company. This also reflects the trend in STEM programs.

However, despite a significant increase in enrollment in higher education overall and in the number of STEM students, figures from Statistics Denmark show that the gender breakdown—with approximately 70 percent men and 30 percent women in STEM programs—has remained largely unchanged.

That is why the goal of Girls’ Day in Science is to highlight the educational and career choices that many girls completely rule out as soon as they smell even a hint of science and technology.

We’d really like to help open girls’ eyes to all the opportunities available if they want to work with robots. Like so many other robotics companies in Odense, we’re short on qualified workers, so if we can inspire them to, for example, pursue an education in robotics, we’re ready to hire them when they graduate.

Henrik Anker, CEO of Gibotech A/S

The girls have the solution

When the girls arrive on October 6, they will have already worked on an assignment that they will present to some of the female employees at Gibotech, who will have the opportunity to ask questions about the assignment and the girls’ thought process behind it.

- The last time we participated, it was clear that the girls had approached the task a bit differently than the boys would have, so we’re looking forward to seeing the solution they come up with this year. And even though I work in one of the departments with the most women, we’d still like to see more women join our world. And of course, it’s always fun to get the chance to show what our day-to-day work looks like, says Sophie Bendtsen, one of the female employees at Gibotech who will be welcoming the schoolgirls in October.

We need more girls

As a society, we need more people to pursue degrees in IT, technology, and the natural sciences, and businesses are in need of employees with those qualifications. In a world that is becoming increasingly technology-driven, there is a need for more people who can both develop and operate new technology, and we therefore need to encourage girls to take an interest in this field as well.

Thanks to the many dedicated organizers, Girls’ Day in Science set a new attendance record this year with over 3,200 girls. When girls meet female employees, researchers, or students they can look up to and gain concrete insight into their fields, it opens their eyes to the exciting opportunities in a future within technology and the natural sciences. That’s why it makes a huge difference when companies and educational institutions open their doors.

Maiken Lykke Lolck, Acting Director of the House of Natural Sciences