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Today, Mastercard announced the expansion of its Girls4Tech™ digital program in Canada, broadening availability to all provinces and territories across the country.
Girls4Tech is Mastercard’s signature science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program geared towards giving girls in middle and high school access to STEM resources and career exploration tools. Available in both English and French, the content and resources that are now available nationwide were specifically designed to spark interest for Canadian girls in topics like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cyber security.
The extended reach of this program is a result of a partnership with Discovery Education —worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place.
“Discovery Education is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Mastercard to pave the way for gender equity within cybersecurity through education,” said Beth Meyer, Vice President of Social Impact at Discovery Education. “Through STEM mentorship and practiced confidence, the girls of today can see themselves in a future STEM career.”
The program offers a robust array of no-cost, standards-aligned, and on-demand digital resources that illustrate how technology can be used to solve the problems young people care about.
Included in these resources are career profiles featuring Mastercard’s dynamic group of female cybersecurity professionals in Canada who fight cyber criminals and help keep sensitive information safe on a global scale. The career profiles include activities and educator guides that inspire girls to dream big.
“Many of the jobs for future generations will require a background in STEM, but there continues to be a low proportion of women graduating and pursuing these fields as adults,” said Sasha Krstic, president of Mastercard in Canada. “Giving girls equal opportunities is important to removing the barriers they face and allow them to pursue and thrive in STEM careers that will help contribute to a diverse and equitable workforce for the future.”
Now in its eighth year, Girls4Tech has engaged more than 2 million girls across the globe through inquiry-based activities and real-world challenges. This latest phase of the partnership features digital lesson bundles focusing on the foundations and evolution of technology and binary code.