On 22 September 2026, EMPOWER, Equal GEMS and WOMEN-KICK joined forces for a joint webinar exploring a question that connects all three projects: how do we help girls build confidence, participation, and opportunity — whether in a computer science classroom or on a football pitch?
The numbers set the stage. Across the EU, women make up just 19.5% of employed ICT specialists, and only 1 in 3 STEM graduates is a woman — despite women being 51% of the population. In sport, the pattern repeats: 85% of adolescent girls do not meet WHO recommendations for daily physical activity, with the drop-off concentrated in adolescence, while girls are still in school and still in PE lessons.
Different fields, same barrier — and that was the throughline of the session. Each project tackles it from its own entry point:
- EMPOWER equips educators with practical training for gender-inclusive ICT education, pairing teachers with female role models from the tech sector.
- Equal GEMS develops gender-sensitive physical education resources, helping PE teachers and coaches build more inclusive, less competition-only sport environments.
- WOMEN-KICK supports women’s health, training, and inclusion in football, with evidence-based resources for players, coaches, and clubs.
Attendees were invited to reflect on their own role in shaping these environments, and live polling throughout the session surfaced a clear pattern: participants ranked health, stereotypes, and career development as the priorities they most wanted to see addressed — reinforcing that the barriers girls face in technology and in sport are rarely about ability, and much more about the environments adults create around them.
Beyond the webinar itself, the three projects agreed the collaboration shouldn’t end here: EMPOWER, Equal GEMS and WOMEN-KICK plan to stay connected and explore joint activities, resource-sharing and dissemination opportunities as they arise.
The session closed with a shared message: breaking barriers takes more than one project — it takes shared knowledge, inclusive practice, and people willing to change the environment around them.
Explore the resources: EMPOWER · Equal GEMS · WOMEN-KICK
