Technology is still not a level playing field for women

According to recent Eurostat data, although the number of women working as scientists and engineers in the European Union is constantly increasing, there are still significant differences between Member States. The highest rates were recorded in Latvia (50.9%), Denmark (48.8%), Estonia (47.9%), Spain (47.6%), and Bulgaria and Ireland (both 47.3%). The lowest participation rates of women were measured in Germany (34.6%), Slovakia (33.6%), Luxembourg (32.4%), Hungary (31.7%) and Finland (30.7%).

In light of all this, it is particularly important that companies also take an active role in strengthening the participation of women in the fields of science, technology and engineering (i.e. STEM). That is why Yettel launched the “Girls in tech” scholarship program in 2024 together with the John von Neumann Faculty of Informatics of Óbuda University, which was recently concluded, and the professional jury selected the winning students. The aim of the program was to make mobile technology and technical careers more attractive to young women.

“Supporting the younger generation is of great importance to us, they are the workforce of the future. Technology is developing rapidly, and we are convinced that more women should be involved in this process. We believe it is important that students who are about to choose a career or are already studying technical studies recognize that serious professional opportunities and long-term career paths open up for them in the field of technology. With the “Girls in tech” scholarship, we wanted to provide tangible support and encouragement for this. We are pleased that we were able to contribute to the professional development of eight talented young people with the program, and in the future we will strive to have initiatives that serve these goals”

– said Enikő Szalai, Deputy CEO of HR at Yettel Hungary.

These topics are what most excite the students’ imagination

The program, with a budget of 5 million forints, contributed to the realization of the students’ scientific plan related to an existing IT or engineering field. During the research period and after graduation, Yettel also provided the students with professional consultations with the company’s experts.

The awardees presented their work on particularly current and innovative topics applied, clearly reflecting that young female talents are open to the most modern technological issues. Thanks to the support, the winners were able to develop their ideas to a higher level, or even implement practical projects. Some developed a microcontroller-based medical chatbot application and created AI-based medical image generation systems, but the topics of the winning applications included, for example, the reliable identification of AI-generated content, music genre recognition and audio processing with artificial intelligence, and the examination of factors influencing female fertility.

The mobile service provider has long treated the situation of women in technology as an important area, which is why this year it is joining the Girls’ Day program organized by the Women in Science Association. This year, the event will be held on April 23, which has become the country’s largest career orientation event for girls in the past 15 years. Interested parties will soon be able to find out more information on the page https://lanyoknapja.hu/.