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STARTED IN 2014
STILL ACTIVE
Adolescents (ages 13-19)
Girls & Women
Teachers & Schools
Digital Engagement and Media Literacy
Digital Opportunities
Italy
Logo of Girls Code It Better

Girls Code It Better (GCIB) is a free, 45-hour project that encourages girls to explore digital creativity and entrepreneurship, focusing on technology and STEM careers. Launched in 2014, it operates in secondary schools, creating inter-school and extracurricular projects. The objective is to mitigate stereotypes of girls in ICT fields by introducing participants to design and creation through technology at an early age. 

GCIB establishes extracurricular afternoon clubs for middle and high school girls between the ages of 11 and 18. Groups of 20 girls are guided by a coach. These coaches possess both educational (teacher-coach from the school) and technical (external maker-coach) skills. The groups cover a theme or problem and develop projects utilising various technical areas such as electronics, automation, design, web development, app and game programming, virtual reality, and video making.

The project emphasises collaboration, knowledge construction, and appreciation of diverse mindsets. The teaching methodology follows the PBL (Problem-Based Learning) Enzo Zecchi approach, promoting inclusivity, creativity, reflection, and critical thinking. It rejects the dichotomy between scientific and humanistic knowledge, encouraging girls to acquire the necessary skills for project realisation.

GCIB actively collaborates with schools, companies, and institutions. The next step is to scale up the project beyond Italy and  collaborate with stakeholders across Europe.

Over 500 workshops have engaged more than 13,000 girls across 18 Italian regions.

The project expanded to over 300 schools over the course of 10 years.

The Initiators
Officina Futuro Fondazione W-Group ETS, an organization that focuses on creating equal opportunities for individuals to access the professional world. It aims to foster greater social awareness to eliminate unequal treatment and actively challenges gender
Reach out

Costanza Turrini, project manager: costanza.turrini@girlscodeitbetter.it