Girls discover new job opportunities at TENK event in Harstad, Northern Norway

Sunniva Tømmerås, 17, and her sister Norunn Tømmerås, 20, express their excitement about discovering job opportunities they were previously unaware of, emphasizing the importance of equality in their pursuits. They are participating in the first-ever TENK event in Northern Norway, hosted this year in Harstad. The event gathered 40 young girls from the Harstad region to engage in professional workshops and lectures.

The girls are participating in several creative workshops, and social activities such as bingo and friendship bracelet-making are also part of the agenda. Project lead Julie Katrine Dragland aims to showcase the opportunities available to girls in Northern Norway, emphasizing that they need not relocate southward for promising technological careers.

Dragland, reflecting on the rapid advancement of technology, notes the gaps in education regarding essential skills. She insists it is crucial for girls to be creators of technology, not just users, highlighting the need for a feminine perspective in tech development.

Norunn and Sunniva believe that the lack of interest among girls in technology stems from a perceived fear of entering male-dominated fields and a general lack of information, with Sunniva pointing out the common notion that tech is a “boy’s thing.”

Recruitment officer Tor Olav Berg from UIT in Tromsø emphasizes the necessity of having more female teachers in STEM subjects to serve as role models for young girls. He notes that, as of the spring of 2024, women comprised only 24% of the students in science and technology programs at UIT, and a mere 23% in engineering disciplines. He observes a concerning gender disparity, particularly in computer science, where only 18% of applicants were women. This imbalance may significantly influence the digital solutions being developed, predominantly by men.