CaixaBank and Microsoft have rewarded the 16 best scientific and technical degree students in Spain through the WONNOW Awards. These awards, which this year reached their sixth edition, recognise female excellence in STEM degrees - sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics -, in order to promote diversity and help to reduce the gender gap in these sectors that have historically been male dominated.
The registration record was broken in the 2023 edition, with a total of 1,006 entries from 77 Spanish universities, a figure almost four times the 2018 number, when there were 272 participants. 3,764 students have participated since the first edition of the WONNOW Awards, making them an established benchmark in the academic field. Currently, 18 of the young women who were winners in previous editions of the WONNOW Awards continue to work in the CaixaBank Group, with two of them at Microsoft.
Gonzalo Gortázar, the Chief Executive Officer of CaixaBank, Alberto Granados, the President of Microsoft in Spain, Cristina Garmendia, an independent board member of CaixaBank and Silvia Hernández, the Director of Banking and Insurance of Microsoft Spain all attended the awards ceremony.
Gonzalo Gortázar emphasised the great quality of entries this year, which posed a challenge for the panel: "Through these awards, our aim is to help promote equal opportunities among professionals in the STEM sector and demonstrate our commitment to the development of female talent, which unfortunately has less representation in such an important field. We need more female scientists, mathematicians and engineers to ensure sustainable social development and to help close the gender gap." The Chief Executive Officer of CaixaBank also described the winners as "role models to inspire other students to break stereotypes and become interested in science and technology from a young age."
In addition, Alberto Granados said that: "We are facing an enormous challenge as an industry and as a country. The presence of women in university courses is 60%. However, in technical areas this changes, and drops to 30% in the case of engineering and even further in other areas such as information technology, where the presence of women is just 13%. It's necessary to create role models and continue working to ensure that there is more diverse talent to lead in groundbreaking areas such as artificial intelligence. Right now there are gaps in sectors such as cybersecurity too, where in Spain there are 22,000 vacancies that can’t be filled, due to a shortage of talent. The aim of programmes that promote diversity, such as the WONNOW Awards which we’ve been organising with CaixaBank for six years, is to help reduce this gap, and they have become established as prestigious awards in the university sector."
The best female STEM degree students
The student with the best academic record, personal, professional and social achievements was Inés Álvarez de Toledo (Madrid), with a dual degree in Business Analytics and Computer Engineering from Francisco de Vitoria University in Madrid, who received a cash award of 10,000 euros and access to a Microsoft mentoring programme. In addition to her academic record, the panel also recognised her curriculum and personal achievements.
The other successful students received paid internships to work for six months at CaixaBank and access to a Microsoft mentoring programme.
