Can you separate dreams…by gender? In childhood, we see the world is literally ours for taking. We dream of being presidents, scientists, astronauts, and see no boundaries to make it happen. Everything’s possible. Until someone makes us think it isn’t. All of a sudden, a strange, huge gap appears, diving jobs into stereotypically girls’ and boys’ “proper choices”. So, at which point does everything change?
A mind-blowing study, published in Science, showed that by age 6, girls were already less likely than boys to believe that members of their gender are “really, really smart”, lumping more boys into this category. Exposed to gender-related bias early in development, girls start believing that they may work hard but are not naturally really smart. Add to this the fact that girls are three times less likely to be given a science-related toy, or that parents are twice as likely to google “is my son gifted?” than “is my daughter gifted?”.
These stereotypes discourage girls, making them opt out of majors like physics or programming, despite having high grades. They stop pursuing academic paths and thinking of a scientific career in technology, engineering, math, or hinder their success in the field. Despite the progress made in recent years, still less than 30% of researchers globally are women.
To close the gap, we need to empower girls from an early age, making them believe again that everything is possible, showing them female leadership in STEM fields and the story behind it, introducing them to innovative technologies and exciting possibilities they open. It’s also about creating opportunities and supporting dedicated initiatives.
Girls’ Day is a nationwide orientation day in Germany for young girls, which helps them get to know various career and study opportunities in fields such as IT, crafts, natural sciences, and technology, where the proportion of women is less than 40%. It’s also a great opportunity for them to meet female role models in leadership positions.
On April 25th, for the second time, we welcomed 12 girls, aged between 11 and 16 at our Fujifilm Europe HQ in Ratingen. Committed to women’s empowerment, we were happy to introduce to them the extensive range of our cutting-edge technologies, showing how our photography and film technologies found their way into other industries and how exciting it can be to be a part of the healthcare and science industries. Our guests also got a chance to see what’s possible with our X-Ray machines and see firsthand how it works. Armed with our INSTAX cameras, all girls could capture their experiences and create lasting memories getting shots to remember.
At Fujifilm, we are committed to fostering diversity and inclusivity, and events like Girls’ Day are just one way we strive to inspire the next generation of women in these fields. Can’t wait to welcome a new group of talented girls next year, so we are already looking forward to the next Girls’ Day!