“Beautiful patterns” MIT and Tec de Monterrey International Bootcamp: engineering women students teaching IT to high-school women students

Abstract

Our first objective in this article is to explain the educational innovation of this bootcamp in its totally digital version for the first time, a version used during the pandemic in 2021 and that we are confident will serve as a basis for carrying out remote bootcamps, always with the idea of promoting the inclusion of more women in IT careers and STEM areas, connecting female high school students with engineering students from prestigious universities and with female engineering professionals. The second objective of this article is to offer certain figures to measure the geographical and human scope of Beautiful Patterns 2021 in Latin America. The third objective is to present the exit study of the Beautiful Patterns 2021 bootcamp. The study followed 500 participating girls from different countries to determine if this bootcamp had created an impact on their perception of the IT, engineering, and STEM areas, considering the diagnosis made before the start of the bootcamp. Finally, we will outline the quantitative strategies being followed to see the long-term impact of the program.