Conference Program

Italian data show a persistent underrepresentation of women in the STEM-related learning path (European Commission, 2025). Similar trends are evident in the percentage of women employed in the technical, IT and engineering work sectors. CNEL-ISTAT data confirm that the gender gap is still an issue that affects the careers and learning trajectories of young women, both in terms of horizontal segregation (greater concentration in a small number of professions) and vertical segregation (effective access to qualified professions or top positions within organizations) (Freguja et al., 2025). Persistent gender stereotypes contribute to this picture, which translate into social and family influence from childhood (Ghigi, 2019; Biemmi & Mapelli, 2017; Sità, 2025).

In pedagogical terms, it is important to understand how gender stereotypes and expectations manifest in the cultures and practices of educational institutions and actors, whether they are formal, informal, or non-formal. Observing this phenomenon, it emerges that not only visible barriers affect girls and young women’s paths, but also invisible ones are based on implicit educational models of parents, teachers and other subjects with care responsibilities, often translating into a real orientation conditioned by gender (Mapelli et. al, 2001; Hussénius, 2020; De Gioannis, 2022; Bonvini et al., 2023). To prevent educational inequalities, it becomes important to decode the formative cultures that run through the daily lives of girls at school, in the family and in the world of peers (Biemmi, 2020; Lopez, 2022) to invest in those protective factors that can help reduce the gender gap.

In this framework, this presentation offers insights based on three workshops, conducted as part of the international project “STAR Girls - Supporting Talent & Ambition in Renewable Energy Sector for Girls” (Erasmus PLUS), with the aim of promoting greater participation of young girls in the clean and renewable energy sector, through mentoring paths. The workshops have involved professionals from the technical sectors, human resources managers, teachers and representatives of the educational world, researchers and scholars. The workshops were designed as opportunities for discussion and dialogue about the obstacles and facilitators of women’s participation in STEM-related training and professions.

The first outcomes highlight consolidated barriers, alongside less visible aspects. Some female participants shared their experiences entering contexts perceived as "men-only worlds," expressing their fears and strategies for negotiating belongings (Hussénius, 2020). The need to question not only careers traditionally precluded to girls but also those implicitly precluded to boys emerges. This makes visible how gender stereotypes act in both directions in the construction of professional imaginaries (Ottaviano & Persico, 2020). Finally, a broader reflection on the meaning of entering STEM for girls emerges: not only as a functional choice for employability or individual success according to neoliberal logic, but also as a meaningful choice capable of opening up perspectives of agency, transforming contexts, and redefining professional identities.