‘Girls in motion’ in Italian technical excellence
Martina thinks women work more accurately. For Maryna equality is first of all a right. Alice wants to do away with the stereotypes on girls that go around at school. Frances is excited and can’t wait to leave.
Twenty girl students are touring Italy to discover and narrate female technical culture.
The project called "Girls in Motion", belonging to the WIM (Women in Motion) campaign, was presented on March 14 at the Bellisario Foundation by the “Network of Chairwomen”, women at the top of Italian big companies and industrial groups who, from May 2016, are networking to share common experiences and initiatives.
The 20 girls at the centre of the project were greeted by Patrizia Grieco (Enel), Luisa Todini (Poste), Gioia Ghezzi (Italian Railways), Lella Golfo (Marisa Bellisario Foundation), Catia Tomasetti (Acea), Pina Amarelli (Amarelli), Franca Audisio Rangoni (Aidda), Claudia Cattani (Italian Railway Network), Maria Bianca Farina (Ania).
“Girls, don’t set limits for yourselves. Our engineer Anna Bassu has become the first head of a hydroelectric plant in Sardinia at the age of 27. She didn’t set limits for herself, she demanded that her expertise should be acknowledged and someone listened to her”
– Patrizia Grieco, Enel chairwoman
The ‘girls in motion’ will depart from Milan on April 25 and arrive in Naples on the 29. A Frecciarossa 1000 will take them, step by step, to the places of the technical excellence of the networked companies: maintenance facilities, control rooms, construction sites, workshops.
The journey will allow the girls to narrate female technical culture through texts, images and videos that will be shared on the WIM - Women in Motion Facebook page, thus encouraging other girls like themselves to choose technical and scientific degrees or careers.
For instance, the tour will stop at Enel’s Suviana dam, the Italian Railway Network operation room in Bologna, the Eni platform in Ravenna, at the Poste Italiane Business Control Center in Rome.
The girls at the centre of Girls in Motion were selected from some 1,500 female students attending high schools across Italy, who have distinguished themselves for their passion, curiosity and a vocation for technical subjects. At the presentation of the project they were all enthusiastic. Some spoke about their passion for mathematics, others about the importance of female examples in the family, or about abolishing stereotypes. They can’t wait to leave.
Today, according to Italian statistics agency ISTAT, less than 20 percent of students enrolled in technical high schools or technical-scientific faculties are girls. 55 per cent complain about the lack of inspiring female role models. The Women in motion campaign, of the Italian State Railway group, is set on changing these numbers. Hence the collaboration with the Network of Chairwomen that has placed diversity and inclusion at the centre of its commitment, like Enel has done with projects like "Girls in ICT" and "Girls Go Tech".
At the presentation of ‘Girls in motion’ the hostess, Lella Golfo, symbolically delivered a phrase from the first manager leading a public company in Italy, Marisa Bellisario to the departing girls: "We can have a better tomorrow because a lot depends on us".
Have a good trip.