Welcome to the Glass Age

189 young generation. We are neither exciting, nor techy, nor cool in their eyes. Their interests focus on the environment, sustainability, networking & culture, innovation, digitalization, high-end technology, and working for purpose-oriented organizations. Women in a very natural way bring other skills to those found in a team composed exclusively of men. Diversity has proven to be an essential key success factor for teams and companies. Further benefits could reinforce the glass industry if an additional dimension of diversity were included, namely ‘cultural diversity’, even more important if the glass company serves customers at an international, if not global level. As explained by Chiara Corazza [13], Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) account for “70% of the most in-demand skills”, but women account for only 24% of professionals working in STEM roles worldwide, only 35% of students and only 1 in 5 graduates across Europe. CGénial Foundation, partnered by Saint-Gobain is working to implement some practical ideas that promote gender diversity and female leadership in STEM careers, including glass companies [14]. • Promote inspirational careers for women , breaking preconceptions by bringing students face-to-face with the scientific community. These out-of-school interactions allow girls to associate themselves with STEM opportunities by meeting role models and hearing about inspirational career journeys. • Set quotas and quantified targets for gender inclusivity in science and technology careers : “a quantified target of 40% representation by girls in public and private sector STEM universities and graduate schools by 2025, backed by financial incentives conditional on progress towards this goal” is recommended. Another option is to impose a 40% Figure 12.7. Education of girls is the key to improve diversity and gender equality. Source: Pixabay.