Gonzalo Gortázar, Chief Executive Officer of CaixaBank, and Alberto Granados, President of Microsoft in Spain, presented the WONNOW Awards to 11 students studying STEM - sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics - courses at Spanish universities. Through this initiative, CaixaBank and Microsoft are promoting talent and supporting diversity and the presence of women in the field of technology and the sciences from the start of their professional careers.
This initiative includes 11 awards: one for the student with the best academic record, who has received a prize of 10,000 euros, and secondly 10 students, who will have access to paid internships to work at CaixaBank. They are offered a six-month contract for work experience with the chance to join the company at the end of this period.
They will also benefit from a mentoring programme offered by Microsoft, which provides an assessment of aspects related to developing their professional careers in the technology industry.
Recognition for the best 11 students of STEM courses
Carlota Armillas, a dual degree student of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design and Product Development at the University of Cádiz, received the prize of 10,000 euros. In addition, up to 10 students have access to paid internships to work at CaixaBank and will benefit from a Microsoft mentoring programme.
In summary, in this first edition of the WONNOW Awards, four students from Andalusia, two from Catalonia, one from the Basque Country, one from Cantabria, one from the Canary Islands, one from the Valencian Community and one from Madrid have received awards from a total of 260 students from the 59 Spanish universities that participated.
Promoting diversity
Gonzalo Gortázar thanked all the students for taking part and congratulated the winners, who he referred to as “an example to follow”. As the Chief Executive Officer of CaixaBank explained, "the WONNOW Awards are a recognition of the best female talent studying courses that play an increasingly fundamental role in the development of our society. With these awards, we want to continue to help people and society as a whole develop, by promoting diversity in the technology industry."
Pilar López was very pleased with the high level of participation in this first edition of the awards and thanked all the universities for their involvement. "Making young women passionate about STEM courses and arousing their curiosity about the world of science and technology will facilitate women’s access to the ICT industry, something essential in guaranteeing Spain’s long-term competitiveness. At Microsoft we believe that the best talent should be diverse and developed from an early age. The WONNOW Awards, in partnership with CaixaBank, are a good example of our work with companies, associations, not-for-profit organisations, networks of professional women and, of course, with educational institutions, in order to inspire girls and young women and show that technology and science is not a field just for men."
Through these awards, both organisations reward the excellence, both academic and personal, of female students of STEM subjects, courses with a low presence of women. CaixaBank and Microsoft recognise the best talent, providing visibility to female role models in the STEM sector and promoting diversity in the technology industry. This is an inclusive project that aims to highlight the hard work and commitment of women who choose these courses.
The values of social commitment, equality and excellence that CaixaBank and Microsoft share are reflected in this initiative, which is planned to be held annually. Through this project, both organisations show their commitment to the promotion of diversity and gender equality in the world of business.
According to a UNESCO report, only 35% of students enrolled in STEM-related courses in higher education are women, and women represent 28% of researchers worldwide.
In Spain, according to data from the Society of Women Engineers, more than 20% of engineering graduates are women, but only 11% are actively working. The percentage of female university students enrolled in information technology courses is just 12% and the percentage of men actively working in this sector is three times higher than for women.
This situation contrasts with the high demand for new professional recruits with adequate STEM skills. The European Commission has warned that 90% of all jobs now require digital skills and that it is likely that within two years there will be 500,000 job vacancies in Europe that cannot be filled due to the lack of adequate training of recruits.
Parity between men and women in the digital industry will make it possible to increase the GDP of the European Union by around 9 billion euros a year, but this will not be possible if girls’ and young women’s interest in STEM cours
