Choosing a career at 14, 15 or 16 can feel like making a decision about an entire future. For
many girls, however, the list of careers they consider is already narrowed by social expectations
long before they begin formal career planning.
A new career-guidance initiative in Belarus is addressing this problem by helping girls explore
STEM professions through their abilities, interests and personal values rather than stereotypes
or ideas about which careers are considered suitable for women.
The programme, titled “The World of STEM Professions: Where Can I See Myself?”, was
launched by UNICEF in Belarus with support from SOS Children’s Villages. It was designed for
girls without parental care and combines career exploration with self-assessment, conversations
with women working in STEM and individual career planning.
The approach offers an important lesson for STEM career guidance for girls: exposing students
to professions is useful, but helping them understand themselves may be just as important

Career Choices Can Be Shaped Before Students
Understand Their Options

Teenagers rarely approach career decisions without outside influences.
Parents, teachers, classmates, films, social media and cultural expectations can all affect how
young people view particular professions. By the middle teenage years, some students may
already have decided that certain careers are simply not meant for them.
The UNICEF programme describes this process as a set of internal “filters”. Girls can begin
excluding engineering, construction, technology or other technical professions because these
fields are perceived as male-dominated.
This does not necessarily reflect their abilities. It can instead reflect what they have repeatedly
seen and heard about STEM careers for girls. Career guidance can help students question
those assumptions before they become fixed career decisions.

The Training Starts With Abilities and Values

Rather than telling every participant to become an engineer, scientist or technology
professional, the programme takes a different approach.
Girls are encouraged to examine their own strengths, preferences, values and desired working
environments. The aim is to help them identify careers that genuinely fit their personalities and
circumstances.
This is an important distinction in career guidance in STEM.
A student might be interested in technology but dislike sedentary work. Another might enjoy
analysing data but prefer working in a social environment. Someone else might enjoy practical
problem-solving but have little interest in programming.
Career guidance becomes more useful when it considers these differences. The objective is not
to place girls into STEM professions simply because they are girls. It is to make sure that STEM
professions remain visible options when students decide what suits them.

Meeting Women Working in STEM Can Change Perceptions

One of the programme’s practical elements involves conversations with women working in
engineering, technology and science. These conversations allow participants to ask questions
that traditional career brochures cannot always answer.
The girls discussed issues such as fear, failure and uncertainty with women already working in
STEM fields. These exchanges helped make technical careers feel less abstract and more
accessible. Role models can be particularly valuable when students have limited exposure to
women working in technical professions.
Seeing a woman describe her own career path can challenge the assumption that engineering
or technology is inherently a male environment. This can broaden perceptions of women in
STEM professions and make unfamiliar career paths easier to imagine.

STEM Is Broader Than IT

Another important element of the training is helping students understand what STEM actually
includes.
STEM is often associated almost exclusively with coding or information technology. In reality,
STEM encompasses a much wider range of professions and sectors. Engineering,
infrastructure, energy, communications, manufacturing, digital services, scientific research and
technology-enabled social services can all involve STEM knowledge and skills.
The programme encouraged participants to recognise STEM in everyday systems, including
banking, retail and social services. This helped demonstrate that technical knowledge can be
relevant even in careers that do not initially appear to be “STEM jobs”.
That broader understanding is important for STEM career choices because students can
otherwise reject STEM based on a very narrow idea of what a STEM professional does.

Building Confidence Is Part of Career Preparation

Career decisions require more than information. Students also need enough confidence to
consider unfamiliar options and believe they can develop the skills required for them.
The training therefore included exercises focused on strengths and self-determination. At the
beginning, some participants found it easier to describe what they could not do than to identify
their own abilities.
Gradually, supportive group activities and conversations with STEM professionals helped shift
the discussion. The change was not presented as an instant transformation. Instead, curiosity
developed over several sessions.
That is significant for STEM skills for girls because confidence can influence whether a student
is willing to attempt a demanding subject or consider a career in a field where she does not
immediately see people like herself.

Career Guidance Can Turn Interest Into a Plan

The programme also moved beyond general career exploration.
An advanced group of participants received individual support to map educational pathways.
This included considering entrance requirements, examinations, academic scores and
alternative routes into further education.
This practical component is crucial. A student may become interested in engineering but still
have no idea what qualifications she needs, which subjects matter or how to reach a particular
programme.
Effective STEM career guidance for girls should therefore connect aspiration with action.
Understanding the destination is only the beginning. Students also need to know which
educational steps can take them there.

Why Girls Need Wider Exposure to STEM Professions

The case for expanding girls in STEM participation goes beyond employment statistics.
STEM fields influence infrastructure, healthcare, technology, manufacturing, communications
and scientific development. Excluding a large section of the population from these opportunities
can restrict the available talent pool.
The UNICEF programme notes that STEM knowledge and digital skills are increasingly
connected with adaptability and competitiveness as technical competencies become more
important across the labour market.
This does not mean every girl needs to choose a STEM profession. It means career decisions
should be based on genuine interests and capabilities rather than an artificially restricted set of
options.

Career Guidance Can Challenge Stereotypes Without
Prescribing Careers

One of the strongest aspects of this model is that it does not treat STEM participation as an
obligation.
The programme does not tell girls that they should become scientists or technology specialists.
Instead, it asks them to consider whether a particular pathway fits who they are and where they
want to grow.
That makes STEM career choices more personal. A successful career-guidance programme
should expand possibilities without replacing one form of pressure with another.
Students should leave with a wider understanding of what is possible, better knowledge of their
own strengths and a realistic plan for pursuing the option they eventually select.

What This Means for STEM Education

The programme demonstrates that career guidance can be integrated into STEM education
rather than being treated as a separate activity at the end of school.
Students can encounter STEM professions while they are still developing their academic
interests. They can meet professionals, explore different technologies, identify their strengths
and understand the educational routes connected to particular careers.
For girls who have already begun filtering out certain professions, this early intervention can be
especially valuable.
The broader lesson is simple: STEM career guidance for girls should not begin with “What
job should you choose?” It should begin with “What are you good at, what matters to
you and what possibilities have you not considered yet?”

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