I had the opportunity to speak at the LearningMore Festival in Modena, presenting the themes at the heart of my research: why girls drift away from STEM, and what educational robotics can do to change that.
The core message is one I keep coming back to: the problem is not girls’ abilities. It’s the invisible barriers they face — stereotypes that emerge as early as age 6, implicit teacher expectations that shape academic choices, and a technological imaginary that is still largely built “for boys.” The design of robots, the structure of classroom activities, the language we use: none of it is gender-neutral.
Educational robotics is no exception — but that’s precisely what makes it a powerful lever for change, if we are willing to rethink it: in methodology, in the tools we choose, in the contexts we create.
We don’t need to convince girls to choose STEM. We need to build spaces where they can picture themselves there — without having to earn the right first.
