International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2026
11 February 2026
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February was established in 2015 by the UN National Assembly, and sponsored by UNESCO, with the aim of raising awareness and inviting Member States, universities, society in general "to promote the full and equal participation of women and girls in science, education, training, employment and decision-making processes".
The United Nations 2030 Agenda has a goal, goal 5, aimed at achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls and also includes this aspect.
Globally, young women have more percentage of possibility than young men to enroll in higher education, with 46% of women and 40% of men enrolling in advanced education within five years of completing secondary education.
However, women account for 35% of science graduates and a persistently low share of research: only one in three researchers globally is a woman.
Women are moving towards equal representation in the research workforce in academia and the public sector, while men continue to dominate in the private sector, in most countries: women account for less than 45% of researchers in the corporate sector.
The theme of this edition
Today, women continue to represent less than a third of the world's researchers. Reducing the gender gap is important not only for equity, but also for the quality, relevance and impact of science, technology and innovation.
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2026 shifts the focus from recommendations and reflections to the presentation of existing good practices and solutions to build a more inclusive ecosystem within science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects.
Increasing the percentage of female students in STEM subjects is the first step to obtaining a greater number of female scientists who, in turn, can represent role models capable of convincing other girls to undertake scientific studies.
Intesa Sanpaolo's initiatives in favour of women in science
The Group actively works to create equal opportunities in the education sector through various initiatives aimed at overcoming gender stereotypes and encouraging young female students to pursue careers in STEM and economics. Examples include:
- STEM Scholarships: Intesa Sanpaolo, in partnership with four leading universities, is offering scholarships to help reduce the gender gap in the STEM field. The two-year scholarships are intended for female master's degree students.
- YEP - Mentoring: we support, as main partner, the Young Women Empowerment Program project, organized by Ortygia Business School, which aims to encourage the inclusion and training of female students from Southern Italy in the STEM field, through mentoring between young participants and professionals. Thanks to YEP, over 150 female students from 12 different universities have the opportunity to participate in a path of discussion, in-depth study and coaching, accompanied by as many high-level professionals, to explore the world of work, acquire greater awareness of existing opportunities and their skills and weave relationships and connections that are valuable for their growth.
- Girls@Polimi: Intesa Sanpaolo is participating in the Milan Polytechnic project, offering scholarships to young women who aspire to become engineers.
- InspirinGirls: in partnership with Valore D, more than 130 Intesa Sanpaolo managers are participating as role models, raising students' awareness of talent and ambition and overcoming gender stereotypes.
- Women in Finance: a program at the Catholic University of Milan to support female leadership in the financial sector. The Group provided four scholarships and two training sessions on gender gaps, financial management, and empowerment.
- Intesa Sanpaolo, as a member of the Sodalitas Foundation, is participating in two initiatives dedicated to promoting STEM skills among young people:
- STEM BY ME, a project aimed at middle school students, aims to raise awareness of the most sought-after technical-scientific professions while promoting gender equality. Intesa Sanpaolo, along with other companies, is contributing through a firsthand account at one of the scheduled meetings to support young people in making informed choices for their future.
- Deploy Your Talents, a project created by CSR Europe and developed in Italy by the Sodalitas Foundation, is aimed at high schools. It fosters interest in STEM subjects and the overcoming of gender stereotypes through programs that combine training, mentoring, and project work in collaboration with companies. The latest edition involved Intesa Sanpaolo, along with 16 other companies, 12 schools, and approximately 400 students.
- IBM is a partner in the national project "NERD? – Isn't It for Women?", now in its 14th year, which encourages high school students to explore computer science, artificial intelligence, and STEM subjects. The initiative, part of Repubblica Digitale and sponsored by Inclusione Donna, offers a four-month hands-on program: after certification on IBM SkillsBuild, the students develop AI-based chatbots inspired by the 17 goals of the UN 2030 Agenda. Developed with Sapienza University and a network of 27 other partners, the project has already involved approximately 60,000 female students across Italy, helping to reduce the gender gap in digital skills and promote female access to tech careers..
The contribution of the Charitable Fund
Intesa Sanpaolo's Charitable Fund and social and cultural works dedicates a significant part of its resources to supporting projects aimed at promoting access to quality education for all, helping to overcome cultural and socio-economic barriers that can slow down and, in many cases, prevent paths of personal and civil growth.
Of the approximately 180 projects selected and supported by the Charitable Fund during 2025 with central donations (donations of more than 5,000 euros), several are aimed at activating more inclusive education and training systems, through the development of skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Through direct or transversal actions in these areas, they aim to promote opportunities for growth, orientation and empowerment, especially within disadvantaged contexts, always a priority for the Charitable Fund.
Interventions mainly involve boys and girls in an equivalent way, while in some cases they are specifically dedicated to young women and migrant women.
Some of the most significant examples at the national level are:
Where: Campania
Objectives: to combat educational poverty and the digital divide by promoting school inclusion, enhancing and deepening knowledge of the green, ICT and STEM sector applicable in the environmental field, increasing female participation in the study and work of ICT and STEM disciplines and in green jobs and guiding students towards university courses and green jobs with a high content of STEM and ICT knowledge in environmental innovation companies.
Activities: for 150 students from 6 secondary schools, a training course on STEM disciplines for the ecological transition and an orientation activity are activated, managed by companies in the energy, circular economy and digital sectors. The project also includes a co-design process with teachers, experts and educators from Legambiente Campania, with the aim of creating a manifesto dedicated to non-formal methodologies for environmental and digital education and the creation of a community of 10 young women in the sciences (researchers, teachers, engineers, professionals in the energy sector), who spread awareness of the environment and STEM disciplines in the area.
Where: Campania
Objectives: To contribute to the prevention of implicit and explicit early school leaving in lower secondary school; to promote systemic change based on the adoption of educational technologies, collaborative methodologies and motivating teaching paths, with particular attention to the development of students' digital and scientific skills. Improving learning, ensuring equal opportunities of access; strengthening school guidance through seminars, simulations and role playing activities; innovating teachers' skills; increasing parents' educational and digital skills.
Activities: involving 5 lower secondary schools (3 for the province of Naples and 2 for the province of Salerno) and 910 students of the second and third classes chosen by school principals and teachers among those with the highest scholastic and motivational fragility, the following will be activated: a continuous educational support service with the use of Virtual Reality (VR), creative and scientific laboratories, digital educational skills for students in socio-economic hardship; in addition, training courses are planned for at least 50 teachers on the educational use of VR and a digital literacy module aimed at at least 85 parents.
Where: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sicily and Sardinia
Objectives: to combat youth unemployment and job exclusion through
training in the digital field, with a focus on Southern Italy.
Activities: dedicated to young migrants between 18 and 34 years old, with particular attention to the involvement of women, it aims to train over 100 vulnerable people in 12 months through accessible and free digital and tech courses. The areas covered are mathematics, data, coding, STEM skills, with courses on Data & AI Analysis, Digital Marketing, UX/UI Design, Future Commerce Academy. The teaching approach of the project is based on the Flipped Classroom model which consists of: asynchronous individual learning through video lessons and exercises via e-learning platform; synchronous application sessions: online lessons with tutors dedicated to practical activities, group work and problem solving; continuous tutoring through chat, forums and collaborative platforms. In this inclusive and supportive learning environment, the trained beneficiaries then become assistant tutors for the new classes and inspirational figures for young people with the same background. Focused on technological niches with high demand and low training offer in the area, the project also aims to raise awareness of the entrepreneurial fabric of the territories involved to facilitate job placements.
Where: Lazio, Calabria and Sicily
Objectives: to use education and training in environmental sustainability as a key tool to combat school drop-out and act for the inclusion of migrants, with a view to networking between educational institutions in disadvantaged areas of Southern Italy, international cooperation and solidarity organizations and reception centers for migrants.
Activities: involving 1,200 secondary school students in neighborhoods with a school dropout rate higher than the national average, 50 teachers, 15 migrant-facilitators, 300 citizens and 5,000 users/followers, actions are implemented to enhance knowledge and skills, through the activation of a web platform that proposes "Eco-assignments" and gaming dynamics to deepen global and local issues, actively contributing to the sustainable development of the community to which they belong. Innovation and Immersion are encouraged, using innovative educational methodologies and processes of great emotional and sensory impact.
Where: Puglia and Basilicata
Objectives: to enhance the educational offer of schools characterized by users with strong educational poverty, introducing an innovative teaching methodology, which integrates tools, such as psychomotor skills, motor activity, coding and educational robotics, in order to strengthen the educational-pedagogical skills of teachers and effectively develop the cognitive and transversal skills of students.
Activities: through the "Integrated String Methodology", scientifically constructed through a four-year research path managed and coordinated by the CNR – Institute for Educational Technologies, the project combines coding and educational robotics practices with psychomotor skills and introduction to sport in the context of primary school curricular activities. 195 boys and girls aged 6-11 and 15 teachers from 5 schools are involved.
At the international level, the projects supported by the Charitable Fund, in line with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, act towards beneficiaries who live in contexts with poor job opportunities, high illiteracy rates and difficulty in accessing basic social services, due to underdeveloped infrastructure. The focus of the interventions is training, which starts from basic skills, and then develops technical, technological, entrepreneurial and professional skills.
An example of planning:
•Social and economic inclusion of vulnerable women in Upper Egypt for active participation in the communities of Fundación Promoción Social de la Cultura ETS
Where: Menya Governorate (Egypt)
Objectives: to promote the economic and social inclusion of vulnerable women, strengthening their autonomy and participation through professional development. In the long term, the aim is to strengthen skills and support networks, fostering women's empowerment and gender equality.
Activities: in a context where young people and women are particularly disadvantaged due to the lack of skills, qualifications and support networks, the project activates in a period of 15 months vocational training for 160 women in the tailoring sector, improving their technical skills and competitiveness in the local market; social empowerment for 300 women through the development of soft skills and participation in awareness-raising activities on equal opportunities and rights; promotion of psychosocial and health well-being. The model is based on professional training, support for self-entrepreneurship and the creation of local support networks.
The contribution of the For Funding platform and the Formula program on the theme "Women and Girls in Science"
For Funding is the Group's social crowdfunding platform aimed at Non-Profit Organizations that want to start a fundraising campaign to support their projects. On For Funding, every donation made is free for the donor and the beneficiary: every euro donated then goes to the project.
Intesa Sanpaolo has also activated the FORMULA For Funding Programme dedicated to the specific needs of each regional territory in terms of environmental sustainability, social inclusion and access to the labour market for people in difficulty. The territorial projects supported by Formula are chosen with the involvement of the bank's regional departments, assisted by the Cesvi Foundation, which supports Intesa Sanpaolo in identifying non-profit organizations of excellence at local level and thus intercepting the opportunities with the greatest positive impact on the community.
The For Funding platform has so far hosted 6 fundraising campaigns in support of projects dedicated to promoting, supporting and incentivizing the presence of women in academic and professional paths related to the science and technology sectors:
- FUTURA: for the development of talents and skills of young women. A program of Save the Children, Forum Inequalities and Diversity, YOLK™ aimed at combating educational and material poverty and bridging the gender gap that hinders the educational path of girls, girls and young women.
- Let's give a boost to young talents from the South with "My Future Buddy"! . Ortygia Business School Foundation program for the support and orientation of female high school students in Southern Italy aimed at reducing gender gaps in the territory to discover academic and professional opportunities.
- Training and development: Let's value female talents in the South! A project by the Ortygia Business School Foundation to support female students from 8 high schools in Southern Italy with an in-depth study of economic and STEM disciplines and the support of a personal mentor - a student from the University of Pavia - who can guide them in their future academic and training choices.
- StemDays – The Cesvi Foundation Girls' Camp and the Human+ ETS Foundation to create a large laboratory of experience and training on technology and gender in Turin dedicated to third and fourth year high school students
- #nonsoloSCIENZA of the Cesvi Foundation and the Brescia Community Foundation which, through performance and theatrical art, brings young people from Brescia schools closer to science, to overcome the dualism with which scientific and humanistic paths are still often opposed based on gender.
- Accorciamo le distanze: between the Cesvi Foundation and CODESS SOCIALE, a cooperative society, to support the approach of girls and boys, girls and boys to STEM subjects, to overcome the lower presence of women in scientific and technical study and professional paths, as well as the low presence of men in courses related to education and care.
Last updated 10 February 2026 at 19:27:59
