Rajiv Memani, Chairman and Regional Managing Partner, EY India, says:
“As technology continues to shape the future, it has become imperative to provide equal opportunity for girls to pursue high-growth STEM careers. We are pleased to launch this global initiative in India, that will enable STEM learning for 6000 girls across 45 private and government schools in Delhi NCR, and has the potential to scale rapidly, empowering young girls to learn STEM in a pragmatic and contemporary manner.” According to EY future of jobs report, by 2022, 37% of Indian workforce would be employed in jobs that have radically changed skill sets and 9% would be deployed in new job roles that do not exist today.
Dr. Vijay Datta, Principal, Modern School, says:
“Creative imagination, critical thinking and experiential learning are the key pillars of the foundation of Modern School, and it our constant endeavour to inculcate innovate practices and digital solutions in the day-to-day learnings of the students. The EY STEM Tribe platform is one such unique digital solution that will open new doors, particularly for girls, help ignite a passion for STEM, enable them to learn 21st century skills and participate in the jobs of the future.”
Dan Higgins, EY Global Advisory Technology Consulting Leader, says:
“The EY STEM Tribe digital platform forms a part of our global Women in Technology movement, aimed at accelerating gender parity in the technology space and reinforcing EY’s commitment to building a better working world. This platform will help girls to build passion for STEM, learn new concepts and apply them in real life, and most importantly, will inspire even more girls across the world to embark on STEM careers. We purposely chose the themes and designed the platform to trigger real-life actions, where girls can reach out to their communities, individually or collectively, and make a greater impact on the society.”
The EY STEM Tribe platform is fully aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Goals and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) framework for transferrable skills, such as analytical thinking or problem-solving.
Amanda Gethin, EY Global Talent Leader, Advisory, says:
“Technology jobs are increasing – but so is the gender gap. As a result, we need to change the talent pipeline and address this gap, lighting the spark to help ensure that women have equal chances to enter, remain and thrive in the technology industry.”
Incentivizing learning through ‘rewards’
To help incentivize learning, the girls can earn points as they complete an activity, such as reading an article, interviewing members of their community, completing an experiment or watching a video. As girls build their “rewards wallet” and see points accumulate, they redeem points in three ways: fun rewards include STEM-related products; important rewards include work shadowing opportunities or virtual mentoring sessions on topics such as building a CV, honing interviewing skills or understanding how millennials engage in the workplace; or lasting rewards, where they choose to donate their points to a non-profit cause of their choice related to empowerment of girls and women. The point donations are converted into a monetary donation by Tribal Planet to the non-profit.
In addition to earning rewards points, girls earn digital badges aligned with the UN SDGs to help them better understand the goals and empower them to have a personal impact related to the SDGs they care about the most. As they participate in SDG-related activities, their badge levels increase.
EY’s Women in Technology movement
The EY Women in Technology movement was formed to create an inclusive culture to successfully harness technology’s potential to truly transform society. EY supports women in tech through education by investing in educational products and programs that drive awareness and participation that encourages girls and women to enter and remain in STEM fields of study and careers.