Expanding Your Horizons Geneva organisation is a non-profit association dedicated to providing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) experiences for young girls.
The EYH Network began in 1974 as the Mathematics/Science Network, an informal group of women scientists and educators in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA.
Early in EYH’s history, its leaders developed the idea of ‘conferences,’ programs in which middle-school and high-school girls participate in hands-on activities in math, science and engineering. The primary activities at the conferences are workshops led by adult women in STEM careers. The girls have fun in the workshops while they also learn about STEM and STEM-related careers and interact with positive adult STEM role models.
Currently, there are more than 80 conferences worldwide with up to 25,000 girls attending each year. These are conferences are mainly in the U.S and only a few Europe and Asia.
The EYH Network is a volunteer community of STEM professionals, educators, parents, community leaders, and government and corporate representatives from around the world. Financial support comes from donations, sponsorships and grants made by individuals, corporations, foundations and government agencies.
The facts
The low number of women and girls pursuing STEM fields has significant implications for women’s financial security, economic growth, and global innovation.
Despite a scattering of high-profile female tech executives like Sheryl Sandberg and Ginni Rometty, women still hold only about 20% of all computer science jobs. A tiny 7% of CEOs are female, and one in seven engineers, despite the fact that women hold 60% of all bachelor’s degrees and make up 48% of the workforce overall.
The disparity starts very early, when girls in middle school and high school start getting subtle messages that mathematics and science are for boys. Even though plenty of research shows that girls do just as well as boys on standardized mathematics tests, there is an unintentional bias among parents and educators that pushes boys toward science and mathematics, and nudges girls away.
Slowly campaigning efforts are changing this - and we want to keep up the momentum with the support of men and women in the workplace.
Impact of EYH in Switzerland
So far about 2'000 young women from the Geneva area have attended our science events and activities and are now starting to take up places at university. We have not yet been running long enough to follow how much of an impact we have made locally but we are motivated by the enthusiasm showed during and after the events and by requests to do more!
EYH Geneva is part of the STEM project of the Geneva State Council.
Goals of EYH Geneva
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Promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as possible career choices for girls
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Provide opportunities for girls to talk with women role models/mentors in STEM
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Develop activities/projects that encourage girls to stay in STEM
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Support an EYH community
Activity report
The PDF version of EYH's 2022 activity report (French only) is available
by email request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Statutes
The PDF version of EYH's Statutes (French only) is available
by email request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Estelle Inquiry Report
This report, which was prepared by the Deuxième Observatoire, is the result of an original request from the association Elargis tes Horizons Genève (ETH).
The Estelle survey has one main objective, that of documenting the training paths of young girls who have attended the ETH biennial events between 2009 and 2015.
The results show that the girls interviewed are committed to traditional gender roles, as measured by the distribution of household tasks and anticipating the balance between private and professional life, even among girls who make atypical career choices (or plan to do so).
In addition, the belief that girls must prove themselves in a male-associated environment and that they must work harder than boys to legitimize their place is still widely held among the participants.
The results show that not only peer support is important, but also that family support, especially from fathers, is essential to encourage girls to pursue scientific studies.
The evaluation of the ETH biennial events showed that fun experiments allow girls to experience science in a different way than that usually discussed in class and opens up new perspectives for them, which can lead to choices of orientation for science careers. By meeting other girls with similar interests and talking with women researchers working in these fields, it gives them the opportunity to project themselves into a scientific future.
Download the full report (in French)
Thank you very much to the families who participated in this survey!
