For the 10th year in a row, the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technologies (CUTI) gathered Uruguayan tech companies to celebrate the “International Day of Women and Girls in Science” and inspire girls to explore tech careers. On April 25th, we welcomed over 30 girls aged 14 to 16 to our office.
In this blog post, I’ll share with you how “Techy por el Día” came about and how the day went in our office with the girls from Liceo 47.
The Gender Gap in Tech
Technology shapes our world in countless ways, from how we work and communicate to how we learn and understand the world around us. However, there’s a significant global challenge that we can’t ignore: the gender gap in tech. Women are often underrepresented in tech-related educational and professional fields, limiting their opportunities to contribute to and benefit from the industry (Píriz, 2024).
This disparity isn’t unique to any one country. Studies suggest that girls’ interest in technology tends to wane as they grow older due to a mix of cultural, social, institutional, and economic factors (ANEP, 2024). Uruguay stands out as a key player, being the largest per capita exporter of software in Latin America and the fourth-largest exporter in terms of dollars in Latin America (Uruguay XXI, 2021).
Bridging the Gender Gap: Initiatives in Uruguay
In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly declared February 11th as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The goal? Achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women.
In Uruguay, institutions like the National Administration of Public Education (ANEP) are working to ensure girls and women have equal access to and participation in science and technology fields. This effort is crucial to reducing the gender gap and harnessing the diverse talents and perspectives that drive innovation.
According to ANEP (2024), “Promoting, encouraging, incentivizing, and inspiring the study of sciences and technology is essential to contribute to the personal and professional growth of girls, young women, and women, and key to enriching the scientific and technological field with diverse talents and creative and innovative perspectives to face current challenges and sustainable development.”
Our Experience Hosting Techy por el Día 2024
On Thursday, April 25th, we had the pleasure of welcoming over 30 girls aged 14 to 16 to our offices.
We kicked off the day with a shared lunch and an introductory talk about what we do at Kaizen Softworks, the meaning of our company’s name, our different teams, and introducing our horizontal and collaborative approach.
To introduce the following activities, we explained the process of creating a digital product: ideation, design, development, testing, and implementation. Then, we randomly divided the girls into four groups to carry out workshops on UX design, development, Quality Assurance (QA), and Information Technology (IT).
Workshops
- IT Activity
This activity began in the entrance hall of our office, where we organized a comprehensive tour of our facilities. During this tour, we provided a detailed explanation of our infrastructure—its composition and why it’s crucial for the smooth functioning of the company. In the server room, we introduced the rack, the nerve center from which all information is distributed throughout the office.
Key concepts like access points, cabling, and smart devices present in different areas were discussed. In the workspaces, we highlighted the installed equipment and underscored its importance to ergonomics and the overall employee experience.
Apart from work areas, we toured common areas like the kitchen, barbecue zone, courtyard, and pool—essential spaces for leisure and downtime for our team members. Our People Care team took the opportunity to share information about our dynamics, benefits, and integration activities that contribute to making Kaizen’s culture unique.
- UX Design Workshop
Our UX Design Workshop started off with an engaging presentation about our dedicated UX design team. We highlighted each team member’s unique roles and emphasized the importance of collaborative effort in crafting meaningful and user-friendly experiences.
Using real-life examples, we painted a vivid picture of how good and bad user experiences are part of our everyday lives. For the hands-on activity, we chose Instagram as a case study—being a widely recognized and used app among the participants. Together, we identified usability issues they encountered when using the app, and then collectively brainstormed solutions using creative techniques like the prioritization matrix and the “crazy 8” tool.
The fun activity served as a practical introduction to the subsequent stages that a design team would undertake, such as prototyping, testing, and implementing the design.
- Development Workshop
In the Development Workshop, we aimed to provide a sneak peek into a developer’s daily life. We steered clear of overly advanced concepts, considering the participants’ basic or zero level of knowledge. Using an example of a project task board, we explained the significance of “To Do,” “In Progress,” “Testing,” and “Done”—fundamental for fostering collaboration within a development team.
To make the experience relatable to the participants, we turned once again to Instagram, exploring what new functionalities could be implemented or fine-tuned. We broke down several functions into small tasks that the participants could work on, making the experience interactive and engaging.
- Quality Assurance (QA) Workshop
Our QA workshop aimed to demystify the functional tester role in a fun and practical way. We used a simple device—a calculator—as an example to facilitate understanding of more complex concepts. Various versions of the calculator with different bugs were projected on a screen for an interactive, hands-on experience.
Through collaboration and creating exploratory test cases together, we encouraged participants to identify bugs. We also used everyday examples to emphasize the importance of detecting and fixing bugs, highlighting how this improves the user experience.
Wrapping Up Techy por el Día
Finally, we gathered all the teams together to share experiences from the different activities they participated in. One of our goals was to ignite the girls’ interest in technology, so we also shared resources such as Ceibal, Jovenes a Programar, and INEFOP where they could further expand their knowledge if they wish.
We want to extend a big thank you to the girls and staff from Liceo 47, as well as those girls who came to participate in this edition with us. We hope this is just one of many opportunities where we can contribute our bit to stimulate interest and the development of local talent in our country!
