Scholarships to reduce the gender gap

The Bank's commitment to supporting female students in achieving their study and career goals in the field of innovation and technology in the STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) continues. Intesa Sanpaolo is taking part in the 4rd edition of the GIRLS@POLIMI - Scholarships for future engineers project launched by the Politecnico di Milano on the occasion of International Day of Women and Girls on Science 2024, providing 28 scholarships for for 28 young and future female engineers.

On 23 September, the award ceremony for the Girls@Polimi 2024 scholarship winners was held. Together with the girls, Isabella Nova, Vice-Chancellor Delegate, Mara Tanelli, Rector's Delegate for Diversity and Inclusion, and representatives of the supporting companies attended the event.

According to data from the United Nations General Assembly, women represent 28% of engineering graduates, 40% of IT and computer science graduates and 33.3% of all researchers. In cutting-edge technology fields, one in five professionals is a woman. A scenario from which many constraints still emerge in the form of models, stereotypes and inequalities that prevent women from betting on the future and being protagonists of changes.
The path to gender equality still appears complex with many gaps to be bridged.
While a high level of education can, in theory, facilitate access to the world of work, from a practical point of view this happens little in Italy: although Italian women represent 60 per cent of university graduates and are on average better educated than men, they have the lowest employment rate in Europe.
In addition, women continue to be weak subjects on the labour market: few are in decision-making positions, they are almost always assigned to lower-paid sectors or in any case have lower salaries than men in the same position.
Another important gap is found in the challenges brought by digitalisation: statistically, women have less technological knowledge than men and are less ready for digital transformations.
This implies that, despite some facilitations introduced by technology, the role differences between men and women within the family remain marked. These facts lead us to take action to give girls the support and skills they need to raise their aspirations.
The aim is therefore to make women protagonists and not passive subjects of the transformations taking place, by investing in STEM training and in the technological knowledge needed to open up for them, new spaces in the world of work.

For all this we have once again chosen to stand alongside those who promote initiatives that aim to enhance the talent of girls.
We have chosen to continue to support the GIRLS@POLIMI project Scholarships for future engineers of the Politecnico di Milano because it is consistent with our approach to social responsibility towards the issues of orientation and inclusion in study and gender equality and equal opportunities.
For the 4rd edition, Intesa Sanpaolo has chosen to support the establishment of four scholarships to be awarded to as many deserving young female students willing to enroll in STEM degree courses. The scholarships will cover the entire duration of the three-year course and are intended for 4th and 5th year high school students who decide to enroll post-diploma in one of the STEM degree courses with a reduced female presence. In this way, the project also offers girls ideas and orientation tools, at the same time proposing a facilitated path to face the challenges and limits that often hinder personal and professional planning, reinforcing the ability to adapt to the the ever-changing dynamics of work.
In this edition, 28 scholarships are supported by 15 companies, as well as by the Alumni of the Politecnico di Milano and by the University itself.
The four Intesa Sanpaolo scholarships are in addition to the 16 scholarships already supported in previous editions of the project.

The company-academy partnership continues to be concrete and targeted because, involving society and the local area, it is based on two solid and shared elements:

• - the certainty that women's intelligence and energy can be a lever of innovation
• - the belief that the project will help bridge the gender gap and trigger the development of skills capable of bringing together talent, culture and scientific method.

We think that a cultural change of this magnitude needs the connection between different worlds which, by communicating with each other, can help girls to be entrepreneurs of their own future. This is not just a goal, but a real responsibility to support the community and for the growth of people.