Near East University academics carried out an education program for female students of 20 Temmuz Science High School, introducing them to the basic concepts of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The education was organized to increase students’ awareness of sustainability issues, contribute to their development of career goals in STEM fields and support female leaders of future.

In the education organized for female students, SKA goals such as gender equality and quality education were emphasized in particular. The academics explained the role of STEM in innovation and problem-solving processes and enabled students to put theory into practice with interactive applications. During the training, students addressed global issues such as recycling projects, use of renewable energy resources and climate change and developed creative solution proposals.

Near East University academics Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayşe Arıkan Sarıoğlu, Dr. Nezihal Gökbulut and Aslı Akyol İnada explained how the STEM approach improves scientific thinking, increases problem-solving skills and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration in their presentations.

Steps to be taken today to build the future are very important!

Referring to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their applications in STEM fields in education, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayşe Arıkan Sarıoğlu explained the importance of SDGs in terms of reducing poverty, minimizing environmental damage, combating climate change and ensuring social equality. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sarıoğlu, said “The active participation of young people is very important to achieve these goals. The steps to be taken today to build the future are very important.”

Female engineers should be more involved in STEM fields!

Aslı Akyol İnada, a lecturer at the Near East University Faculty of Engineering, gave a presentation on Mechanical Engineering and stated that energy efficiency and producing environmentally friendly solutions are among the basic duties of engineering fields. Aslı Akyol İnada stated that women’s contributions can have a significant impact on sustainable development. Dr. Nezihal Gökbulut from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Near East University stated in her presentation that mathematics is a tool that produces solutions in many different fields from environmental sciences to biotechnology. She raised awareness by expressing that the contributions of mathematics are important, especially in new and developing fields such as mathematical biology.