South Africa, Jan. 21 -- Some arrive with confidence. Many arrive with curiosity. All of them benefit from environments where experimentation is encouraged, failure is normalised and innovation is a shared experience.

From the outside, it may seem like a small shift. But the implications for the next decade of Stem are enormous. The increase in girls' participation is not simply a matter of representation. It is a signal that schools are beginning to unlock previously overlooked talent - the kind of talent that will shape South Africa's ability to participate in the global knowledge economy.

Unesco's Science Report (2021) shows that while women make up 35% of Stem students globally, their participation drops sharply in fields such as en...