Across Europe, the world of technology and cybersecurity is still very far from being gender equal. Women represent less than a fifth of IT professionals and their presence in cybersecurity drops to under ten percent. This is not just a statistic about jobs. It is a sign of who is allowed to shape the digital systems that influence our economies, our democracies and our daily lives. CyberHER was created as a response to this reality. It is an Erasmus+ KA210 youth project that brings together four organizations from Spain, Romania and Cyprus to support girls aged 16 to 21 in discovering, entering and leading in the fields of STEM and cybersecurity, while also challenging the structural barriers that keep them out.
At the heart of CyberHER is a simple belief. Girls and young women already have the curiosity, intelligence and creativity needed to succeed in technology. What they often lack is access, encouragement and an environment that truly welcomes them. Many of them go through high school or vocational education without ever meeting a woman who works in cybersecurity, without being explicitly encouraged to choose technical careers and sometimes even without being told that these paths are open to them. CyberHER aims to change that experience completely, by offering not only training but also mentoring, role models, career guidance and a supportive European community.
The project is led by https://fundacioninnovasur.com/ in Spain and implemented in partnership with Imago Mundi from Romania, https://ims-edu.com/ from Cyprus and https://grupoconsule.es/, also from Spain. Each organization adds a piece to the puzzle. Innovasur, a leading company in cybersecurity, smart city solutions and artificial intelligence, contributes its strong background in technology and cybersecurity education. Imago Mundi brings long experience in youth work, non-formal education and gender equality and, as a member of the feminist network Women in Development Europe+ (WIDE+), plays a key role in spreading the project’s results to a wider community of organizations that work on women’s rights and social justice. IMS offers its expertise as a secondary education institution with a strong STEM profile, and Grupo Consule supports the strategic and organizational side of the project. Together, they build a space in which girls can explore new interests, gain confidence and imagine themselves in roles that until now may have seemed reserved for others.
CyberHER is not only about teaching technical skills. It is a feminist project that treats the gender gap in cybersecurity as a form of structural inequality, shaped by stereotypes, unequal access to opportunities and the absence of visible role models. Because of this, the project is designed to act on several levels at the same time. Girls will learn the basics of computer science and cybersecurity in a clear and accessible way, even if they start with very little prior knowledge. In parallel, educators and youth workers will receive support and materials to better encourage girls to choose STEM paths, to use more inclusive language, to challenge stereotypes in the classroom and to see themselves as mentors. At the same time, companies, institutions and other stakeholders will be invited into the process, so that new doors to internships, jobs and collaboration can begin to open.
CyberHER is planned as a learning journey that will be easy to access and genuinely welcoming. The partners will create an online curriculum in computer science and cybersecurity that will work even for complete beginners and will combine it with interactive,
non-formal activities that invite questions, curiosity, teamwork and experimentation, rather than asking girls to simply listen passively.
To make this concrete, the project will also develop tools that girls and adults around them will be able to use in real life. There will be a guide that explains what study routes and career options exist in IT and cybersecurity and where young women can look for internships or training in their own countries. Another set of materials will be created for teachers and youth workers, with practical suggestions on how to support girls and respond when stereotypes appear. Short inspirational video “pills” will present women working in cybersecurity who will speak openly about their journeys, making these paths feel closer and more achievable. Online activities will be complemented by in-person meetings, including a gathering in Spain where girls and educators will have the chance to meet, learn together and connect with women professionals and other allies. These moments are meant to help participants feel supported, inspired and part of a wider community, learn together and connect with women professionals and other allies. Visibility will also be a key part of CyberHER. Through social media, local media, a digital magazine and a final European event in Cyprus, the project will share its results and bring together schools, organisations, companies and policymakers who want to reduce the gender gap in tech.
The project plans to reach at least 60 girls, helping them gain basic skills in cybersecurity and related STEM fields, and to train at least 20 educators who will be able to continue this work in their own communities. Just as importantly, it aims to support a change in attitudes. When girls enter spaces where their questions matter and their ambitions are taken seriously, something will shift. When they meet women who were once “the only girl in the room”, stereotypes will start to lose their strength. And when teachers and companies begin to see gender diversity in cybersecurity as essential rather than optional, organisational cultures will start to move as well.
In the end, CyberHER is meant to be more than a training program. It is an invitation to rethink how we see girls and young women in technology and what kind of digital future we want to build together. If we want a digital world that is fair, creative and safe, girls and young women need to be at its center, not at its edges. CyberHER is one concrete step in that direction, rooted in feminist values, European cooperation and a strong belief in the potential of every girl who dares to say, “I belong here too.”
