Gonzalo Gortázar, Chief Executive Officer of CaixaBank, and Pilar López, President of Microsoft Spain, presented the WONNOW Awards to the best female STEM degree students - sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics - from Spanish universities.
Through this initiative, both organisations reward, for the second consecutive year, female excellence in technical university degrees, promote diversity and help to reduce the gender gap in these sectors, where women’s presence is low.
The European Commission 2018 study "Women in the Digital Age" stated that only 34% of women are qualified in STEM subjects and represent 17% of specialised professionals in the technology sector.
In an attempt to improve this situation, CaixaBank and Microsoft are backing the WONNOW Awards, which have firstly recognised the student with the best academic record from among all the participants and who has received a prize of 10,000 euros, and secondly have rewarded 10 students, who will have access to paid internships to work at CaixaBank and will participate in a Microsoft Spain mentoring programme.
The Chief Executive Officer of CaixaBank highlighted the hard work and efforts of all the participants, who have studied difficult STEM degree courses with brilliant results. Gonzalo Gortázar also congratulated the winners and recognised their commitment and the important work they do in society. "Through the WONNOW Awards we want to support women’s development in key professions and highlight the hard work and commitment of women like you who choose these courses." The Chief Executive Officer of CaixaBank encouraged the students to continue to break moulds and explode myths, by showing how women can also be brilliant scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians. "We need young women like you. Our society cannot afford the luxury of losing almost half of its STEM talent", he said.
The President of Microsoft Spain, Pilar López, also joined in the congratulations for the winning students in this edition of the awards, who she believes are role models to encourage other students to forget stereotypes and become interested in science and technology. "Talent and diversity are a guarantee of innovation and growth. Having digital skills is a distinguishing factor and a competitive advantage for future professionals. It is imperative to promote vocations and female talent and not only for the technology sector, because digital talent is essential for any industry these days. Women are already using technology, but we want them to also invent it, to be protagonists and help to solve the great problems that we are facing as a society. That is the spirit of the WONNOW Awards."
The award winners, four students from Catalonia, two from Andalusia, two from Murcia, one from the Autonomous Community of Valencia and one from the Canary Islands, were chosen from 440 STEM degree students from 70 Spanish universities that participated in this second edition of the competition. As well as their academic records, their personal experiences were assessed to select them. The participants completed a form containing questions to examine their achievements and assess their general profile. Their curriculums and their average marks for the first 180 credits passed were also assessed.
Carlota Parés, a dual degree student of Computer Engineering and Telematic Engineering at La Salle Campus, University Ramon Llull, received a special prize of 10,000 euros for having the best academic record. She will also have access to a paid internship to work at CaixaBank and will benefit from a mentoring programme offered by Microsoft Spain, along with another nine winning students.
Committed to diversity and technology
The WONNOW Awards are a response to key issues for CaixaBank and Microsoft: diversity and a commitment to technology. They are also a strong reflection of the values that both organisations share, such as social commitment, working to achieve equality and the recognition of excellence.
In Spain, more than one million jobs related to STEM skills will be created in the next four years, but one in four companies has problems in finding suitable candidates and, above all, problems finding women for jobs related to these sectors, according to the Spanish Association for Digitalisation, DigitalES. And according to the European Commission, only 3% of women with higher education qualifications have qualifications in what are considered technological subjects.
