Building the next generation of technology leaders in Turkey

STEM fields are among the fastest-growing career sectors of today. However, women representation in these areas remains relatively low. Our global research at Mastercard reveals that girls tend to lose interest in STEM between the ages of 9 and 13, leading to a significant drop in their involvement in these subjects. Additionally, women still hold only 33% of technology roles. 

At Mastercard, we’re committed to empowering the next generation of female technology leaders. Girls4Tech, our global educational program seeks to motivate girls to pursue STEM subjects, helping them build futureproof core technology skills and explore career opportunities in these sectors. 

The program equips students with hands-on experience in critical areas, such as coding, cryptography, data science, biometrics, AI, fraud detection, cybersecurity and digital convergence, empowering them to navigate the digital world with confidence. The fun, interactive curriculum, based on our in-depth expertise in technology and innovation and available in 23 languages, is delivered entirely by our volunteer employees, offering participants guidance at every step and serving as role models and mentors.

We have now brought Girls4Tech to Turkey with the aim of enabling more than 100 girls to discover the world of STEM. Two training sessions have already taken place at our Istanbul office, reaching more than 70 kids.

When we launched Girls4Tech in in 2014, we set a goal for ourselves to benefit 5 million girls worldwide by 2025. To date, the award-winning program has reached approximately 7 million girls aged 8‐25 in 64 countries, but even though we have exceeded our target, our work hasn’t stopped. We aim to replicate this success in Turkey by helping girls here take bold steps and provide them the opportunity to reach their full potential in science and technology.