Mastercard announces the new phase of its flagship Girls4Tech™ program in India
The program will benefit over 10,800 girls from 30 government schools in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu, January 17, 2022 – Mastercard today announced the expansion of its signature Girls4Tech, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education program in India. Supported by the Mastercard Impact Fund, and in partnership with the American India Foundation (AIF), the expansion of the program aims to reach an additional 1 lakh female students across the country by 2024 to encourage them to take up STEM education. This includes 10,800 students in Tamil Nadu, as well as pupils from 30 government schools in Coimbatore where STEM courses will be offered to girls aged 8 to 14.
In 2020-21, the program reached over 112,482 girls in urban and rural locations across six states in India, inclu ding 17,820 across three districts in Tamil Nadu. Even as science and technology continue to be the next fronti ers of growth for nations and organizations, a significant gender gap remains in these fields. According to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20, while women comprise over 43 per cent of STEM graduates in India, only 14 per cent go on to pursue scientific research in universities and institutions. The situation becom es more concerning considering the skills gap in the workforce and the increasing necessity for businesses to att ract, hire, and nurture a diverse workforce.
To address the challenge and pique girls’ interest in science and technology fields, Mastercard partnered with th e American India Foundation (AIF) to encourage girls to take up STEM education and prepare for jobs of the fut ure, with an aim to narrow the gender gap.
Mathew Joseph, Country Director, American India Foundation said, “The under-representation and disparity of women in STEM are results of deep-rooted social biases, and expectations, influencing the quality of education they receive and the subjects they study. The lack of female leaders and role models in STEM is also a barrier and one of the key drivers behind the gender gap in labour market success. American India Foundation is committed to intervening measures that focus on attracting young girls to STEM subjects, and our partnership with Master card on Girls4Tech is one such step’’.
Subhashini Chandran, Vice President of Social Impact, Asia Pacific, Mastercard Centre for Inclusive Growth said, “Even though more women are needed in the workforce, they continue to face several challenges, particularly in India’s semi-urban and rural areas. One is the prevailing perception that the tech industry is dominated by men. As a result, girls do not receive adequate encouragement to pursue STEM disciplines at school or university. Thr ough the Girls4Tech program, which is based on global science and math standards and curated by engineers and technologists, Mastercard aims to support the Government’s vision to create more opportunities for women in the workforce by inspiring young girls and women to pursue STEM education which will help to prepare them fo r jobs of the future.”
Launched in 2014, Girls4Tech™ is an award-winning education program aimed at creating future problem solv ers, incorporating Mastercard’s deep expertise in technology and innovation. The program aims to enable girls to discover a range of STEM careers, such as fraud detective, data scientist and software engineer.
In the spirit of Mastercard’s ethos of “Doing Well by Doing Good”, since 2015, more than 700 Mastercard emplo yee volunteers hosted multiple Girls4Tech events across Pune, Vadodara, Mumbai and Gurugram and held India-wide virtual sessions reaching over 110,000 students aged 8-16. Starting as hands-on, in-person sessions run by employee volunteers, the program has since reached more students by extending access to its STEM curriculum through the program’s online resources.
Through the website Girls4Tech Connect, teachers and parents can download lessons to help students learn ab out STEM topics including encryption, fraud detection, data analysis and digital convergence, from home or any where in the world. The curriculum, which includes topics such as AI and cybersecurity, is also available in Hindi, English, Chinese, Malay, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Polish.
About Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an in clusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart, and acc essible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships, and passion, our innovations and solutions help individua ls, financial institutions, governments, and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across mo re than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.
