Jenni Sidey inspires young women in science with Astro Pi
ESA Education and the Raspberry Pi Foundation are proud to celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, taking place today, 11 February 2019. In support of this occasion and to encourage young women to enter a career in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), CSA astronaut Jenni Sidey joined us in creating an inspirational video about her role models, in particular the achievements of women in STEM as a result of coding.
She discusses why she thinks computing and digital making skills are so important, and why the European Astro Pi Challenge is a great opportunity for young people to learn to code.
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is implemented by the United Nations as part of their plan towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. According to current UNESCO data, less than 30% of researchers in STEM are female and only 30% of young women are selecting STEM-related subjects in higher education. Part of the resolution is to promote full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls. Therefore, to help young women and girls develop their coding skills, the Astro Pi team encourages participation in the European Astro Pi Challenge.
The European Astro Pi Challenge
The challenge is an ESA Education programme run in collaboration with the Raspberry Pi Foundation, which offers students and young people the amazing opportunity to conduct scientific investigations in space, by writing computer programs that run on Raspberry Pi computers on board the International Space Station. Mission Zero is open until 20th March 2019 and provides participants up to 14 years of age the opportunity to write a simple program to display a message to the astronauts on board. No special equipment or prior coding skills are needed and all entries that follow program rules are guaranteed to have their program run in space!
If you have any questions regarding the European Astro Pi Challenge, you contact us via email: astropi @ esa.int.