Smart Cheli: Young women’s efforts to make Nepali girls smart through STEM education

Soon after completing school, Pratikshya Pandey decided to pursue her bachelor’s degree in electronics and communications engineering. However, most of her female friends were choosing subjects other than science, technology, and mathematics.

“When I asked them why they didn’t choose science or maths, they replied, being a girl, they can’t do that and those fields are for men,” Pandey, now 26, recalls, “Their reply shook the foundation of my belief and made me think why they are getting back believing the stereotypes, without even exploring them on their own.”