Sergey Tokarev: GenIT and STEM IS FEM to Introduce Ukrainian Schoolgirls to the Energy Sector

In February, Ukrainian schoolgirls will have an opportunity to come to Kyiv and learn more about the energy industry. The STEM is FEM charity project has chosen Energy and Ecology as the theme of the third educational module for high school students. The project initiator, founder of GenIT company, investor and IT-businessman Sergey Tokarev tells more detailed about the event.

“The Ukrainian energy sector is one of the key technical sectors of the country, and at the same time it is traditionally characterized by gender imbalance,” says Tokarev. “According to the latest statistics, only about 27% of the industry’s employees are women. For example, this rate in Norway is 38%, while the top management of the energy sector is represented by 24% of women. In Ukraine, women in the energy sector are represented mainly in low-paying positions as men occupy 80-90% of top management positions in the industry.”

Sergey Tokarev cites European studies that show that gender equality in the professional sphere of Europe may increase a country’s per capita income by 20% by 2030. That means that engaging more women to the energy sector positively impacts the economy of a country.

The report of the Institute of Economics and Forecasting of NAS and the Heinrich Böll Foundation shows that among the factors that hold women aside from top positions in power sector there are the impact of gender roles, cultural and social norms, the absence of gender-sensitive approach in hiring process, absence of gender goals in the companies, unattractive work conditions, and shortage of female workers with educational training in STEM-oriented industries.

“The last factor is what the STEM is FEM project is trying to solve. Our goal is to motivate girls to choose technical areas of education. We introduce girls to the activities of the industry so that they become interested in choosing their future education in the field of energy and ecology,” – says Sergey Tokarev.

During the educational module, girls will visit relevant institutions, ask their questions to women who are already working in the industry, listen to educational and motivational lectures, and participate in the final competition. The main prize of the final creative competition is the full-funded participation in the Yale International Alliance Conference on Global Citizenship in Rome.