International Day of Women and Girls in Science: How H-FARM Supports Girls in STEM

Every year on February 11, we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a day dedicated to highlighting how essential it is to support female participation in scientific and technological fields.

This is not only about encouraging new vocations, but about building educational environments where girls can approach STEM with confidence, curiosity, and freedom of choice. Environments where talent is recognized without bias and where science is seen as a space open to everyone.

At H-FARM International School, this occasion feels especially meaningful to us.
Every day, we work to provide our female students with hands-on experiences, tools, and role models that enable them to discover and nurture a genuine interest in science and technology.

When Science Becomes an Experience

We saw this clearly last year during the Women in STEM event, which transformed our laboratories into a place of wonder and experimentation. Over two days, dozens of girls had the opportunity to explore concepts such as DNA extraction, coding, robotics, chemistry, and applied physics, subjects often perceived as complex, discovering that science can be accessible, engaging, and, above all, within their reach.

A STEM Project Led by Students

We see the same spirit reflected in projects that arise spontaneously among our students. One example is the initiative led by Risa and her team (composed almost entirely of girls) who decided to design and build an assisted mobility vehicle for use on campus during their lunch breaks. Born from a concrete need to improve life within the school community, the project was driven forward with passion, teamwork, and great determination.

For these girls, who are interested in pursuing future careers in medicine, marine biology, physics, and engineering, the project was much more than a technical activity: it was an act of confidence in their own abilities and a powerful message for future generations. “I want to show that girls can excel in science just as much as boys,” said Risa. And that is exactly the spirit we strive to cultivate.

Alongside hands-on activities, meetings with professionals from the scientific world also play an important role, such as the recent talk by Professor Marta Losada, an internationally renowned physicist and Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Research at NYU Abu Dhabi. Her testimony offered students an authentic perspective on what it means to build an international career in research, allowing many girls to imagine themselves in paths that may once have seemed distant.

Inspiring Encounters and Projects

Then there are the everyday projects, less visible, yet equally meaningful.
Tomorrow, we will host the new edition of the MYP Personal Project Exhibition. As every year, many of the projects presented by students (particularly by female students) revolve around scientific themes: sustainability, health, technology, research, and innovation.
Some have chosen to make particle physics visible by building a Wilson cloud chamber, like Risa, while others, like Agata, have explored surgical suturing techniques with their future in medicine in mind.
These are just two examples from a much broader landscape, showing how interest in STEM is a vibrant and growing presence within our school community.

All these experiences tell the same story: when girls are given space, tools, and trust, science stops being an intimidating territory and becomes a place of possibility.

As a school, this is precisely our commitment. To create environments where girls can experiment without fear of making mistakes, ask questions without fear of judgment, and imagine themselves as future scientists, engineers, doctors, and researchers.

Supporting women in science is not only a matter of equity; it is an investment in the future. The great challenges of our time require diverse minds, new perspectives, creativity, and collaboration. The more voices participate in research and innovation, the richer and more inclusive the solutions become.

Not all of them will choose a scientific career and that is perfectly right.
But every one of them should grow up knowing that, if they wish, that world is open to them.

And we want to continue being the place where those talents find the courage to flourish.