Girls in Science Day – Twice as Many Girls at Gibotech

One of Odense’s oldest automation companies once again invited the girls to visit, hoping to open their eyes to all the job opportunities available in the industry. This took place as part of a nationwide campaign organized in collaboration with the House of Natural Sciences and Tektanken.

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, where women accounted for 32 percent of new students in 2019, an increase of 1 percent compared to 2018. However, despite a significant increase in enrollment in higher education in general and in the number of STEM students, figures from Statistics Denmark show that the distribution of approximately 70% men and 30% women in STEM programs remains largely unchanged.

That is why the goal of Girl’s 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

The girls brought the solution to Girl’s Day in Science

When the 14 girls from Tingløkke School came to visit, they had worked on a project in advance, which they presented to some of the female employees at Gibotech. The employees had the opportunity to ask questions about the project and the girls’ thought process behind it.

- Last year, it was clear that the girls had approached the task in a slightly different way than the boys would have, so we’re looking forward to seeing what 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, so it’s exciting to have the chance to show what our day-to-day looks like, says Katrine Spencer, one of the female employees at Gibotech who welcomed the girls.

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 has 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,” says Maiken Lykke Lolck, Acting Director of the House of Natural Sciences.