Costa Rican women workforce inclusion

Through collaborative innovation, Ideas en Acción has focused on creating programs aimed at closing the gender gap in STEAM fields. Here’s what we’ve achieved in 2025:

In 2024, the 26th edition has already taken place, with 35 women from different parts of the country graduating. They worked in 8 teams to develop 8 mobile app prototypes aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.

They developed solutions to address problems related to different SDGs over nine weeks. Through technology, these women were empowered and learned the basics of programming, gaining the opportunity to enter the STEAM world and explore what it could mean for their future careers. In this edition, we totaled over 1,175 volunteer hours, including technical mentoring for app programming, Design Thinking for prototype ideation, and photography to capture the experience. Additionally, we were sponsored by Procter & Gamble, IBM, and the United States Embassy in Costa Rica. Through partnerships with Efecto Boomerang, Universidad Fidélitas and, and we received further support.

We are currently beginning the 27th edition of the program thanks to the sponsorship of Procter & Gamble, IBM and the support of Efecto Boomerang, Universidad Fidélitas and Lincoln School.

Red MenTe: We strived to provide monthly activities tailored to the various interests and needs of the young women in our Red MenTe network, most of whom are beginning their professional and academic journeys. In total we offered them 29 activities through the year. 

Our focus for 2025 is the development of knowledge in STEAM and employability skills. This will be achieved through activities such as visits to tech companies, certifications in technologies like Power BI, webinars on how to apply for jobs in tech companies, and more.

We are currently developing new partnerships to enhance the employability profile of the women in the Network.