The Executive Yuan's Department of Gender Equality teamed up with the American Institute in Taiwan, Intel Taiwan, and the American Innovation Center to organize the 2017 Super Girl Camp today at Taipei's Songshan Cultural and Creative Park.
Offering training courses incorporating the elements of creative design and social compassion, the camp comes as part of the global trend to encourage young women to enter the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields and improve their economic future. Nearly 100 girls attended today's event. Several prominent women speakers were also on hand to share their personal experiences, encouraging these "super girls" to rise to their challenges with courage, create new opportunities, and never let gender roles hold them back.
Chan Ting-I, chairperson of the National Communications Commission and representing the Executive Yuan, said that new technologies can bring opportunities as well as challenges. Gender segregation is still pervasive in Taiwan with the sciences dominated by men and the humanities by women, making it more important than ever to develop young women's interests in the STEM fields.
Georgine Lin, director of sales and marketing at Intel Taiwan, said a company's culture plays a decisive role in eliminating gender inequality in the workplace. Intel has a long history of training young women in science and technology in the hopes of bringing more women into the high-tech sector.
Sophiyah Liu, Taiwan's first female baseball umpire-in-chief, also shared from personal experience, urging girls not to shy away from a career or field because of their fewer numbers. A challenge can also be an advantage, she added, encouraging the audience to think positively in the face of challenges and create a new world for themselves.