Milagros Sáinz, director of GenTIC, is participating as an invited speaker at the upcoming Expert Meeting 2025: Engaging and Retaining Individuals in STEM Fields, taking place on 19-21 May 2025 at the Quadriga Forum in Berlin. The event is organised by Heidrun Stoeger, Professor at the University of Regensburg in Germany, and Albert Ziegler, Professor at the Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, as part of the MesH_MINT project, a collaborative initiative focused on strategic approaches to STEM education and practice. At the upcoming Expert Meeting, MesH_MINT will bring together leading figures in the field to discuss ways of making STEM more inclusive, engaging and sustainable.
Milagros Sáinz will share insights from her latest research on successful interventions that spark young people’s interest in STEM, with a particular focus on girls and other underrepresented groups. Her work highlights the effectiveness and impacts of educational interventions and other practical strategies that can help close persistent gender gaps and improve girls’ performance, self-perception of ability, and interest in scientific and technological subjects, especially in those fields where women are underrepresented.
The meeting will also feature contributions from other internationally renowned experts, including:
- Thomas Breda, Associate Professor at the Paris School of Economics, on Gender Gaps in STEM: A Quick Review of Possible Causes and Remedies
- Sapna Cheryan, Associate Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Washington, on Understanding the Persistent Underrepresentation of Women in Computer Science and Engineering
- Lysann Zander,Professor of Empirical Education Research and Director of the Institute of Educational Science at Leibniz University Hannover, on The Power of We: How Beliefs About Cooperation Shape Help-Seeking and Engagement in Chilly Academic Fields
- Andrei Cimpian, Professor of Psychology at New York University, on The Cost of Genius Myths: How Beliefs About Intelligence Perpetuate Inequities in Education and Careers
- Elena Makarova, Professor of Educational Sciences and Director of the Institute for Educational Sciences at the University of Basel, on The Role of Gender-Sensitive Role Models in Fostering Young Women’s Engagement in STEM
- Brian Donovan, associate research professor at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics at the University of Colorado, on Genetics Education Interventions that Promote Social Inclusion in Science Education
This event aims to bridge the gap between research and practice by facilitating the exchange of scientific presentations and expert group discussions. It will also inform participants of the MesH_MINT project about current research trends and the most effective ways to create equitable STEM learning environments.
Find out more on the MesH_MINT project website: https://www.meshmint.org/expert-meeting-2025
Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash.