NEWSROOM
Robogals – hacking the STEM diversity issue
18 September 2023
Robogals is a global volunteer student-led organisation founded in 2008 with the goal of inspiring, engaging and empowering young women into engineering and related fields. The University of Auckland’s Robogals is an active chapter of this global network, and this year ran the annual Science and Engineering Day (SED) with great success at Kura Matahuna – Unleash Space, one of the innovation hubs managed by the University of Auckland Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE).
The Science and Engineering Day was an in-person event held as part of the international Robogals Science Challenge competition, an international outreach initiative that engages young women and gender-diverse students aged 5-15 to become involved in STEM beyond the classroom. Activities are designed to promote innovation and exploration through hands-on projects, which can be completed with a friend, parent/guardian, or mentor.
Community building is an important aspect of Robogals’ success, and this year’s event was run in collaboration with the Maker Club and Auckland University Robotics Association (AURA). Robogals invited anyone aged 8 to 12 to join in, while girls and gender-diverse students were most actively encouraged to participate.
CIE Technology and Prototyping Manager Sean Kelly says “This is the second year that we have supported Robogals as a venue sponsor, and it’s heart-warming to see so many young people enthused and engaged about learning and experimenting with technology. I really loved seeing Robogals connect with the University Maker Club, who are regulars at Unleash Space. It’s been an awesome example of community collaboration.”
The inclusive nature of the event worked wonders. “The event was a massive success as we saw participation nearly double from last year!“ says Sophie Shultz, Robogals’ Partnership Manager.
While SED is an annual event, Robogals also run regular workshops and hackathons throughout the year, led by a team of passionate volunteers. The hackathon themes include challenges such as robotics for disaster response and solving transport issues for the fictional town of Springfield.
In addition to hackathons, Robogals runs primary school workshops that use Scratch to teach the fundamentals of code and the concept of communicating through Morse code. The high school workshop introduces machine learning concepts using Scratch.
Gender diversity in the STEM fields has been identified as an ongoing issue. For example, less than 25 per cent of software engineers at big tech companies like Google and Facebook are women. A lack of gender diversity is also an issue for the University of Auckland Faculty of Engineering “Currently, only around 30% of students studying engineering are female/gender-diverse.” says Sabina Aquino, Robogals Auckland President. “We aim to bridge this STEM gender gap and provide opportunities for minority groups to be introduced into STEM fields, which we feel is critical to generating more thoughtful and inclusive solutions for our future.”
If you or someone you know are passionate about promoting diversity in STEM and inspiring the next generation of innovators, Robogals welcomes interest to help support their programme. Sabina says “We are always open to new volunteers, no matter how late in the year you want to join.”
Keep an eye out on Robogals’ social channels to find out about the next annual Science and Engineering Day and other events or contact them for more details about getting involved.
@robogalsakl
18 September 2023
Robogals is a global volunteer student-led organisation founded in 2008 with the goal of inspiring, engaging and empowering young women into engineering and related fields. The University of Auckland’s Robogals is an active chapter of this global network, and this year ran the annual Science and Engineering Day (SED) with great success at Kura Matahuna – Unleash Space, one of the innovation hubs managed by the University of Auckland Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE).
The Science and Engineering Day was an in-person event held as part of the international Robogals Science Challenge competition, an international outreach initiative that engages young women and gender-diverse students aged 5-15 to become involved in STEM beyond the classroom. Activities are designed to promote innovation and exploration through hands-on projects, which can be completed with a friend, parent/guardian, or mentor.
Community building is an important aspect of Robogals’ success, and this year’s event was run in collaboration with the Maker Club and Auckland University Robotics Association (AURA). Robogals invited anyone aged 8 to 12 to join in, while girls and gender-diverse students were most actively encouraged to participate.
CIE Technology and Prototyping Manager Sean Kelly says “This is the second year that we have supported Robogals as a venue sponsor, and it’s heart-warming to see so many young people enthused and engaged about learning and experimenting with technology. I really loved seeing Robogals connect with the University Maker Club, who are regulars at Unleash Space. It’s been an awesome example of community collaboration.”
The inclusive nature of the event worked wonders. “The event was a massive success as we saw participation nearly double from last year!“ says Sophie Shultz, Robogals’ Partnership Manager.
While SED is an annual event, Robogals also run regular workshops and hackathons throughout the year, led by a team of passionate volunteers. The hackathon themes include challenges such as robotics for disaster response and solving transport issues for the fictional town of Springfield.
In addition to hackathons, Robogals runs primary school workshops that use Scratch to teach the fundamentals of code and the concept of communicating through Morse code. The high school workshop introduces machine learning concepts using Scratch.
Gender diversity in the STEM fields has been identified as an ongoing issue. For example, less than 25 per cent of software engineers at big tech companies like Google and Facebook are women. A lack of gender diversity is also an issue for the University of Auckland Faculty of Engineering “Currently, only around 30% of students studying engineering are female/gender-diverse.” says Sabina Aquino, Robogals Auckland President. “We aim to bridge this STEM gender gap and provide opportunities for minority groups to be introduced into STEM fields, which we feel is critical to generating more thoughtful and inclusive solutions for our future.”
If you or someone you know are passionate about promoting diversity in STEM and inspiring the next generation of innovators, Robogals welcomes interest to help support their programme. Sabina says “We are always open to new volunteers, no matter how late in the year you want to join.”
Keep an eye out on Robogals’ social channels to find out about the next annual Science and Engineering Day and other events or contact them for more details about getting involved.
@robogalsakl
EMAIL
CIE@AUCKLAND.AC.NZ
POSTAL ADDRESS
THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND BUSINESS SCHOOL
PRIVATE BAG 92019, AUCKLAND
