Educathon 23 – Girls in Science: An Educational Experience for Teaching Technology with a Gender Perspective

Abstract

Hackathons are events and work sessions derived from the technological field in which the participants work collaboratively around different challenges and, in a short period of time, seek innovative solutions, presenting them formally at the end of the session. Given the potential of this type of activity related to promoting the development of skills such as problem-solving, teamworking and creativity, among others, and with previous experience and success of its application in science educational contexts, we decided to apply it in the event of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Considering the significant concerns in the access of girls to science and technology professional areas, mainly due to gender stereotypes and biased as well as the lack of referents, we held the Educathon 23 - Girls in Science (www.educathonencic.com), aiming to promote equity access to science and technological education. Hence, working collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams, the 15 participants (students mainly from educational degrees) designed an educational resource aligned with the game-based learning methodology and addressed technology content, making the role of female researchers at the University of Málaga who work on related topics visible. To do so, they worked in groups of three during two sessions (five hours each) on the assigned tech topic and selected the stage (Early with a final five-minute presentation of each group. To analyse the experience, at the end of it, the participants responded to a questionnaire in which they generally expressed their satisfaction with the experience, how it had made them aware of the importance of making visible female references in their future teaching practice, and how it had provided them with examples of how to accomplish it.