Ana Respício, LASIGE integrated researcher, was invited to write an opinion piece for the newspaper Diário de Notícias on 11 February 2025, as part of the celebrations for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (IDWGS).

Ever since she was a little girl she wanted to be a scientist and now, 50 years on, she realizes that there are still many prejudices and stereotypes about girls and women, particularly in Computer Science.

Respício said: “The gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is even more marked in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). In the Computer Engineering degree program at the Faculty of Sciences (ULisboa), of which I am the coordinator, there are currently only 16% female students. This percentage has been increasing over the last decade, but very slightly. The same is true of the Degree in Information Technology, also at this faculty, where the percentage is currently 20 per cent. According to the DGEEC, only 1% of women enrolled in higher education in Portugal are currently studying an ICT degree”.

And continues: “Children should be exposed to technology and programming, regardless of their gender, since pre-school, at school or at home. There are programming languages developed specifically for children, such as Scratch or Blockly. These languages allow children to play at programming and stimulate the development of logical reasoning, creative thinking and autonomy. The introduction to programming and computational thinking is beneficial for both girls and boys and, in the long term, for society as a whole”.

Respício considers that to bring more women into ICT, it is needed to change mentalities and act at grassroots level, expressing that “diversity and inclusion are drivers of innovation, as confronting different perspectives and approaches stimulates new ideas and attitudes. In the ICT sector, certain skills traditionally associated with the female profile, such as attention to detail and a predisposition to co-operation, have been increasingly valued. The growing demand for qualified professionals in the field offers excellent career opportunities, both nationally and internationally”.

The complete opinion, complementing the LASIGE’s IDWGS celebration, is available here.