International Women in Engineering Day 2022 in Finland

June 23 is the official day to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day or “INWED” worldwide. This event is celebrating its 9th year in 2022. The event itself was created by The Women’s Engineering Society, a charity and professional network of female engineers. In 2021, the tag @INWED1919 received more than 289k impressions on Twitter, and there were over 100 events dedicated to INWED around the world. Overall, the campaign recorded a potential reach of 526 million. 

According to a study conducted in 2019, in Finland, there has been found to be a lack of women in senior level positions in the software industry. We find promoting equality to be very important, so in the spirit of INWED, we want to showcase some organizations in Finland that support and encourage more women to be interested in tech fields. 

Women in Tech Finland  

Women in Tech Finland is an organization network that aims to encourage, support and promote equality and inclusion in technology. Women in Tech Finland has listed a need for more female role models and providing more experience with hands-on exercises as ways to get more women interested in technology. 

They hold events to promote their aims, and in general they want to help girls and women get excited about technology. Women in Tech Breakfast Dates are organized on average 1-2 times a month, and this has been going on since 2016. These events aim to inspire and provide fresh insights into the tech industry.  

Mimmit koodaa 

The Mimmit koodaa– program (women code- program) mainly focuses on increasing gender equality in the Finnish software industry. They organize free events and training for women who are interested in the IT industry with no previous coding experience. With access to a nationwide cooperation network, the program offers support from various educational instituations and companies in the field as well.  

As of 2022, Mimmit Koodaa has reached over 10 000 women who are interested in coding. The events that they offer focus a variety of different topics related to coding and technology. On their website and social media accounts, there are also success stories of women who have entered the tech industry.   

Naistech  

Naistech is a project that is part of Tampere University. The project aims to increase women’s overall interest in technology. The project especially focuses on encouraging women to apply to the mechanical, automation, building and electrical engineering sectors. They have workshops, training sessions and webinars.  

This project also aims to motivate and inspire women from immigrant backgrounds, unemployed people, and women who want to change the sector that they are currently working in or aiming for. Naistech aims to invite sponsors and companies that can offer beneficial activities, internships and summer jobs to support women and girls that join the sponsor groups.  

We hope these organizations were able to inspire you and give you some insights on what is happening in the technology sector in Finland. It is important to strive for equality, and International Women in Engineering Day is a great day to celebrate it! If you’re interested in learning more about studying technology in Finland, we have lots of information about that here.