Experience of the I Workshop Women in Tech Occidente-Costa Rica (WITO 2019): a study of undergraduate students

Resumen

The Information and Communications Technologies’ market has been growing, and organizations around the world have been joining the great concern about the women’s under-representation in programs related with science, technology, engineering and mathematics areas. This situation has led to the proposal of initiatives in distinct institutions to promote an increase in the participation of women. This article describes the experience of carrying out the I Workshop Women in Tech Occidente-Costa Rica (WITO 2019), which was attended by the fourth-year undergraduate female students of the bachelor’s degree program in Inform´atica Empresarial from the Sede de Occidente of the Universidad de Costa Rica. This workshop was focused on identifying: student fears, skills, interests and how the program and university services could be improved. Main results showed that: (i) students do not feel completely prepared for the office environment, (ii) the university must improve the support provided to students in topics such as sexual harassment, ergonomics labs and complementary services, and (iii) participants consider that stereotypes should disappear, and gender equality can generate better results for organizations. Finally, this kind of activity encourages the empowerment of female students and it also inspires them to be role models.