Silver Spring, Md. (Thursday, April 22, 2021) — With the goal of providing five million girls with an engaging STEM education by 2025, Mastercard has partnered with Discovery Education to launch the latest phase of the award-winning Girls4Tech initiative. Girls4Tech is Mastercard’s signature science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program geared towards giving girls in middle and high school access to STEM resources and career exploration tools with an emphasis on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cyber security. Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms. Together, the partnership aims to reach more than 2 million girls.
In partnership with Discovery Education, Girls4Tech now offers a robust array of no-cost, standards-aligned, and on-demand digital resources that illustrate how technology can be used to solve the problems young people care about. Included in these resources are career profiles featuring Mastercard’s dynamic and diverse group of female cybersecurity professionals who fight hackers and help keep sensitive information safe on a global scale. The career profiles include activities and educator guides that inspire girls to dream big. In addition, this latest phase of partnership features digital lesson bundles focusing on the foundations and evolution of technology and binary code.
“The current and future workforce needs employees with hot skills like cyber and AI, so the more we can do to introduce these subjects in the early years, the better off we’ll all be,” said Susan Warner, vice president, talent management and community engagement, and founder of Girls4Tech. “Our partnership with Discovery Education will help us bring these hot jobs to life.”
To further impact girls around the world, Girls4Tech will also expand to Canada beginning with the provinces of British Columbia and Ontario. The expansion to Canada helps fill the need for Francophone STEM content that sparks interest for girls in topics like AI and cyber security. As part of the expansion, Discovery Education will host future virtual and in-person events focusing on the importance of STEM education for young women, as well as providing educators with resources to integrate STEM into their instructional plans.
“We are incredibly excited to enter this new phase of our partnership with Mastercard,” said Lori McFarling, president of corporate & community partnerships at Discovery Education. “Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Mastercard, we are proud to support young women across the U.S. and now Canada not only see themselves in a future STEM career, but also connect directly to resources that will propel them into the wonderfully wide and curious worlds of science, technology, engineering, and math and beyond.”
In 2019, Mastercard commissioned a study to understand gender and generational differences surrounding perceptions and attitudes of STEM-based topics and programs. The study also explored challenges and motivations students cited for pursuing college majors and careers path. The study showed that women are less confident, receive less encouragement, and need more mentors in STEM. Girls4Tech provides support to young women in each of these critical areas. Learn more about Girls4Tech at girls4tech.discoveryed.com and in Discovery Education’s K-12 learning platform.
For more information about Discovery Education’s digital resources and professional learning services, visit www.discoveryeducation.com, and stay connected with Discovery Education on social media through Twitter and LinkedIn.
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About Mastercard (NYSE: MA)
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.
About Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms. Through its award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia resources, and the largest professional learning network of its kind, Discovery Education is transforming teaching and learning, creating immersive STEM experiences, and improving academic achievement around the globe. Discovery Education currently serves approximately 4.5 million educators and 45 million students worldwide, and its resources are accessed in over 140 countries and territories. Inspired by the global media company Discovery, Inc., Discovery Education partners with districts, states, and like-minded organizations to empower teachers with customized solutions that support the success of all learners. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.
Contacts
Grace Maliska | Discovery Education | gmaliska@discoveryed.com
Julia Marsh | Mastercard | julia.marsh@mastercard.com