The STEM is FEM education project has made a significant contribution to involving female youth to learn STEM disciplines and build a career in IT. The initiative focused on another project to reconstruct devastated Ukrainian cities by engaging professionals and thousands of applicants. Serhiy Tokarev, IT entrepreneur and the initiator of STEM is FEM, commented on the main project’s achievements and outcomes.
What is STEM is FEM?
STEM IS FEM is an educational project aimed at popularizing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) specialties among girls and young women. STEM is FEM works with schoolgirls aged 12-23 who are interested in tech. Serhiy Tokarev underlined that last year, the project received 4,000 applications to participate in its activities. The most significant ones are mentioned below.
The course “Urbanism”
The initiative team implemented an educational project called “Urbanism” with the purpose of involving Ukrainian youth in urban planning and post-war reconstruction. The project team believes that engaging citizens of diverse genders, ages, and experiences can help restore the devastated Ukrainian cities.
Over four months, 50 girls delved into the fundamentals of urban planning and architecture. They developed projects to reconstruct public spaces in three war-torn Ukrainian cities: Ichnia, Trostyanets, and Okhtyrka. Later, the participants presented their works and only the top ten projects were polished up by a team of experts and offered to further implementation. According to Serhiy Tokarev, three graduates were lucky to undergo an internship at Urban Reform NGO. They could engage with the local community, study the history of Okhtyrka, and contribute to research for the city’s master plan development.
