Scientific experiments
Over a 100 girls came to the UvA and VU Amsterdam to do scientific experiments, such as building holograms and brush robots and tinkering DNA chains in a laboratory. There was a lecture on a chemistry study, quantum principles were demonstrated and the students experimented with infrared cameras in the Science Lab. They also went speed dating with scientists. It was fun to see how enthusiastically the girls were engaged.
Gender stereotypes
The proportion of women in STEM, engineering and IT professions is only 16%, which is obviously far too low. We know from research that girls rule out studying or working in STEM, engineering and IT at an early age. This is due to gender stereotyping, a limited image of technical study programmes and professions, low self-confidence in science subjects and a lack of role models.