What is the initiative and where is it implemented (city or country, for example)?
The technology market in Brazil is characterized by gender inequalities. {reprograma} was developed to combat this issue with the help of free programming boot camps for unemployed women with low-income backgrounds. The programme's primary goals are to empower women through gender awareness and uncover their potential through professional experiences. The stakeholders strongly believe that such initiatives can overcome inequalities and bring change to the labour market by enriching it with qualified professional work.
How was the initiative established? How was it implemented?
Over the last decade, statistics revealed an extremely low female presence in science and technology courses in Brazil. To address this issue, the social start-up {reprograma} was created in 2015 in São Paulo. To reduce the technological gap in the labour market, the programme offers fast-tracked courses to upskill women to fill the vacancies offered by the market’s demand for highly-trained professionals ({reprograma}, 2021).
Which stakeholders are involved in the design and/or implementation of the initiative? Which sectors do they represent?
{reprograma} is led by a young and experienced team consisting of teachers and boot camp facilitators. With the support of local and international contributors, {reprograma} is reducing the gender gap in the Brazilian technology sector, training women programmers, promoting diversity and contributing to growth in IT.
What are the impacts of the initiative in terms of facilitating lifelong learning? Who does it benefit and how?
{reprograma} reports a completion rate of 96 per cent, having trained 179 women. An impressive 80 per cent of the graduated front-end developers were hired upon course completion through partnerships with various companies in the tech field ({reprograma}, 2021).
Follador (2021) conducted a case study on gender and technology based on the implementation of programmes within the {reprograma} start-up. The author attempted to evidence the relationship between gender and technology based on the social impact of the start-up. Follador reported that the respondents acknowledged the need to eliminate the gap. They understood the necessity to transform the field and expand beyond professional training and jobs in the technology sector. They identified civil society, government institutions and private initiatives as critical factors for a radical and profound transformation of the relations between men and women in Brazil. They highlighted the need to take a closer look at the diversity of women involved in the field.
{reprograma}’s graduates perceive a definite improvement in their employability, particularly as the job market expands and there is a lack of qualified labour. However, it is predicted that women will occupy lower-paid positions (Follador, 2021).
There is an urgent necessity to implement similar transformative actions and interdisciplinary approaches to overcome the challenges imposed on women in the labour market and broader social environments.
References
Follador, S. R. 2021. {reprograma]: A preliminary case study on gender and technology. Estudos Feministas. [Online] Available at: https://www.scienceopen.com/document?vid=7f0bcd5b-1691-4704-8fe7-778af16da12f [Accessed 11 November 2021]. Available in English at: https://www.scielo.br/j/ref/a/CcRC7D7GMhbnhfxFCySpG8s/?lang=en&format=pdf [Accessed 11 November 2021].
{reprograma}. 2021. Closing the gender gap in the technology sector through education. [Online] Available at: https://www.reprograma.com.br/index.html [Accessed 11 November 2021].