Gdynia Maritime University GMU

A meeting for the academic campaign "Dziewczyny na Politechniki!" [Girls for Universities of Technology] and "Dziewczyny do ścisłych!" [Girls for Science] took place on Thursday and Friday of this week in Warsaw. The meeting, attended by representatives of the campaign, was held during what is the 15th year since its creation in 2006.

Gdynia Maritime University was represented by Katarzyna Chmielewska - the coordinator of the project at GMU and two students, Julia Zacharenkova and Olga Zając.

The project is the biggest initiative promoting technical, engineering and exact sciences among young women in Poland. Events to support the initiative began 15 years ago by the Conference of Rectors of Polish Technical Universities and the Perspektywy Education Foundation.

Its main aim is to counter stereotypes and the reluctance of female students to study for degrees in exact sciences and technical subjects. In particular, at a time when a culture of innovation is becoming increasingly important and something that both Europe and Poland aspire to. Innovation is essential for building a society and a knowledge-based economy and geared towards global competitiveness. Female technical and science graduates must contribute to the creation of new scientific and technological solutions in order that the country's innovation may benefit from their potential and creativity.

Friday's meeting raised the topic of Gender Equality in higher education and gave the opportunity to exchange views with the CEO of the Perspektywy Education Foundation - Dr Bianka Siwińska, Katarzyna Walczyk of the National Research and Development Centre and Beata Chojecka and Anna Potocka-Domin from UN Global Network Poland. A particularly interesting presentation was given by Huawei's Alicja Tatarczuk, entitled "How the Tech Business is Supporting Women".

One area of discussion focused on the most important conference dedicated to women in technology - the "Perspektywy Women in Tech Summit 2022", which will take place on 7th and 8th June 2022, in Warsaw.

The event also provided the opportunity to reminisce, exchange experiences with other attending representatives, and establish details for the organisation of the National Open Day for Girls.

The Open Day will be held at Gdynia Maritime University on 7th April 2022 - the day before the traditional University Open Day.