As part of the GEMS project, universities and organisations from across Europe will collaborate to strengthen gender equality in digital education and encourage more girls to pursue studies in the STEM fields.

The aims of the project, in which Frederick University is participating, are twofold: on the one hand, to empower academic staff in higher education to design and implement teaching practices in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) with a gender-sensitive approach, and on the other, to empower secondary school girls to engage with ICT through practical and participatory experiences.

To achieve these goals, the GEMS project will carry out field research on the motivations and barriers faced by young women in ICT, develop training programmes and guidelines for educators, design a free extracurricular ICT programme including STEM activities and practical applications for girls, and create a mentoring network linking female pupils with young female role models in ICT.

These activities will contribute not only to improving participatory and inclusive learning environments, but also to dismantling stereotypes, addressing systemic inequalities, and enhancing women’s participation in digital sectors.

On behalf of Frederick University, the GEMS – Girls’ Empowerment in Digital Skills project is coordinated by the university’s RIGE – Gender Equality and Inclusion Research Unit, led by Dr Petroula Mavrikiou, Associate Professor in the Department of Business Administration.

The GEMS – Girls’ Empowerment in Digital Skills project is funded under the European Commission’s Erasmus+ KA220-HED programme and has a duration of 36 months (1 October 2025 – 30 September 2028), with a total budget of €400,000. The project is coordinated by PMF SRL (Italy), with the following academic and research partners: Tallinn University (Estonia), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), Universitat Ramon Llull (Spain), Frederick University (Cyprus), ipcenter.at GmbH (Austria) and Università di Catania (Italy).