In recent weeks, Academy of Labour joined forces with Generation Stem for a common cause: fighting the gender gap, that phenomenon whereby certain fields and jobs are restricted to men and precluded to women. We interviewed the founder of GenS, Alessandra Cravetto, to tell us where the problem arises and what we can do to counter it.
The gender gap is in fact a transversal problem, which goes beyond education and affects several sectors, including aviation. An under-representation so evident that in January will start an ICAO study to investigate the condition of women workers in over 70 aviation categories, from the most technical to leadership roles. The aim is to build a future, already initiated by initiatives such as those of ENAV, in which the sector's workforce is balanced and equally valued.
Good morning Alessandra. I would start by asking you to tell me about the birth of the Generazione STEM community. I know that before coming to marketing with La Piazza Group, an agency you co-founded, your professional path moved from journalism. When and how did the idea of founding a community like this come about?
Yes, I am a journalist and have always covered women's stories. I have always been interested in female empowerment and by interviewing women for various newspapers, I realised that one of the tools that makes women truly competitive is competence. Nowadays there is a lot of talk about gender equality and from these reflections Generation STEM in 2023 was born, from an idea of mine and Chiara Pacchioli, the community manager. All with the aim of convincing girls to consider a STEM career.
This is because the numbers say that too few girls still choose this type of path, due to so-called gender prejudices. We want to normalise science, i.e. make it available to everyone. If a woman is ready and has the appropriate skills, she should not have to fight against other types of logic to be on a par with a man.
What were the first concrete initiatives you set up?
We started with the main social networks (Instagram, YouTube, TikTok) and a lot of scouting for female science communicators who could become our ambassadors. We needed girls with a passion for the subject who could become authoritative voices for the project. We started with two ambassadors, today they are a network of a hundred and ten girls.
They are all people who already work in these fields or who are completing their training and who behave like a real editorial team, i.e. it is they who propose the content and who develop it. A virtuous circle has been created whereby it is the same girls who follow us who propose themselves as new content creators, and they all know the issues well and live them. So the community feeds on what it needs.
In short, social media was the nerve centre of the whole mission you had at the beginning.
Absolutely, because our idea was to talk to girls of school age, let's say between 13 and 24, that phase of life when you start to think or decide what to do when you grow up. We know that this kind of target audience spends many hours a day in front of social media. These are channels that can also be used for noble purposes, without demonising them unnecessarily.
Looking at your editorial plan, do you focus more on one social in particular - I am thinking for instance of TikTok, which is the most used by the very young today - or do you communicate in a cross-cutting and balanced way on all social media?
We started with Instagram. It seems unbelievable, but only three years ago this social was still the one pushing this type of disclosure the most, TikTok was mostly just entertainment. However, socials change so much and so quickly. Today TikTok is also infotainment, so today we use that too.
Obviously there are two very different tones of voice. TikTok allows you to be “dirtier”, more homemade, playful and youthful if you like. Instagram, depending on what the brand is, is becoming more and more the place for content that we could say is more institutional and corporate. There is a kind of balance between the two, which allows you to have a diversified communication. We often do mirror postings, but the great thing about the two is that you can have two different strategies.
How are things going today, compared to when you started? Have you noticed a slight turnaround over the years?
The numbers are more positive today. But improvement is still too slow. The need, on the other hand, is enormous. According to a report by the Osservatorio per le Competenze Digitali in 2024, half of Italian companies are struggling to find STEM profiles, and Confidustria tells us that the need for these figures will rise to two million in the coming years. In other words, whether men or women, this huge supply cannot be met by the number of graduates. It is a no-gender problem, a problem within a problem that affects the entire country system.
Working closely with the subject, you will have gained an idea of why we lag behind. Is it a question of lack of appeal, of miscommunication of these paths to young people?
Generation Stem lives on social media, but it also lives a lot offline. So we also work on orientation in schools. What you realise when you talk to young people is that they know very little. The university offer has multiplied and companies are looking for people with specific skills that are also very different from their field. A statistics graduate today can also end up working in the food industry or make-up. Students do not know this. There is no knowledge of how many and which paths can make you an appealing profile in the world of work.
The other problem is that STEM degree courses are still considered very difficult. So many don't even try because they don't think they can do it. They are not easy courses, no doubt. It is also true, however, that by putting in the effort, by trying, one can succeed as many do. And in the end you will have not one, but twenty companies that will come looking for you.
So direct work in schools is very important. How does it work and what is the ecosystem of your collaborations like?
We activate the orientation formats directly at the call of the interested schools. This is the most beautiful part of our work, the one that gives us the most satisfaction: there are students who contact us to ask us to go to their school to explain what can be done with these types of disciplines.
On the other hand, we collaborate with companies that need to do talent attraction for women. We provide our communication strategies (we talk about social branded content) to tell them about the company and the policies that are put in place to attract certain profiles. Then we conduct interviews with role models inside the company, so as to inspire those outside.One problem underlying today's gap in STEM is in fact the poor representation of women. In the early 1990s in America they conducted a very significant test, asking thousands of students to draw a scientist. Taking into account that the English word ‘scientist“ has no gender, 99.9% drew Einstein anyway. So we also exalt storytelling that always aims to promote the company, but highlighting the right aspects. If there is a woman in an apex role in a cybersecurity company, that woman becomes a role model and inspires others.
And by the way, now there is AI that does nothing but reinforce human stereotypes, because it learns from those. So the under-representation continues to be replayed in a vicious circle.
Exactly. Speaking of AI, I can tell you that we are working together with Colory* on a recruiting platform that is no-bias. It will work in such a way that the candidate will be chosen solely on the basis of his or her skills, regardless of gender or other superfluous data. We expect it to be launched in 2026.
Are there any other projects on the horizon? What plans do you have for the future?
We want to strengthen the whole content creation part and become a reference for young people who are all-round science enthusiasts. So we will try to be more and more productive. Then there is another novelty that concerns an infotainment initiative, the show The Science they didn't teach us at school narrated, which will see three girls from our community engaged in reporting on three female exponents of their respective fields. We will try to get it out there as much as possible.
Last question, Alessandra. If I were an indecisive girl, struggling, contacting you for guidance and advice, what would you tell me?
We offer active listening in mentoring programmes that are free for all girls, conducted by mentees who are barely older than the students and therefore close to their difficulties.
Then I would say try. Always try. First of all, understand what you like and what you don't, at least to try to direct yourself on paths that are as close as possible to your own inclinations. Then to bear in mind that there is no kind of biological predisposition towards certain subjects, it is now scientifically proven. It is true that men's and women's brains are different, with different capacities, in some cases women's brains are even faster. No one, however, is born more gifted than others for mathematics or Latin, just on the basis of gender. It is all due to influences, stimuli, culture and the dynamics of the ecosystem in which the subject is born and grows up.
