TürkTraktör and the Woman in Technology Association Holding the Biggest Vision Meeting of the Year
TürkTraktör, the first manufacturer of the Turkish automotive sector, in collaboration with the Woman in Technology Association (WTECH), organized a training program under the Miracles of the Sprouts Technology and Innovation project, bringing together more than 600 university students and expert academicians and businesspeople. During the training held at Shangri-La Bosphorus Istanbul, the students participated in vision trainings offered by the Woman in Technology Association.Bringing together leading businesspeople and academicians active in the field of technology with young women, the training sessions provided an important opportunity for discussing the most current developments such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, metaverse, Internet of Things and Industry 4.0. Between the sessions, the "Miracles of the Sprouts, Stars of the Net" program was held with the participation of Burcu Hakyemez Dal, Deniz Hakyemez and Elif Ağca, national team volleyball players. Students who successfully completed the training program and received their smart digital certificates participated in the competition at the end of the day. As a result of the competition, two students received computers with the support of the Hitay Foundation, 25 students received tablets with the support of Lenovo, and 30 students received Doret Habib's book, The Secret of the Blue Strawberry. After trainings in Gaziantep, Adana, Van, Mardin and Istanbul, the next leg of the trainings will be held in Ankara.
Expressing her pleasure to meet with university students on the occasion of the training program, Ceren Ertem Çimen, TürkTraktör People, Culture & Transformation Business Leader, said: “Celebrating our 70th anniversary as TürkTraktör, we are the pioneers of transformation, focusing on sustainability in every area of activity in line with our goal of ‘Preparing for the Future’. The Miracles of Sprouts Technology and Innovation project, launched to improve the involvement of young women in the technologies of the future, is one of our most valuable steps in our journey of transformation. With the project, we aim to reach 30,000 young women by the end of 2026, supporting their development with holistic and multifaceted programs and helping them prepare for the future. Moreover, under our new graduate program called 'FutureDrive', we support young people's participation in the workforce and enable them to develop competencies. We aim to increase the rate of female interns at TürkTraktör as well as the rate of female employees in the field of technology and innovation to 50%. We will continue to create value to train the expert workforce that Turkey needs in her technological transformation.”
Talking about the lasting value for Turkey of the collaboration between WTECH and TürkTraktör, Zehra Öney, Founding President of the Woman in Technology Association, said: “Our Association works towards the same goals as TürkTraktör's Miracles of Sprouts Technology and Innovation program. That's why we are happy to take part in the program. Our Association aims to train expert, competent human resources in the field of technology and to guide young girls and women to this field. Unfortunately, there are very few women working in this area. Even if they study in STEM programs, women do not prefer to work in these areas. Thanks to our cooperation with TürkTraktör, we set out to provide vision trainings to 4,000 young female university students. We welcomed more than 600 students at the Istanbul meeting, where we shared our vision that men and women are equal in the field of technology, that the future is built on technological competence, and that young women who improve themselves and acquire new skills can have a career in this field. According to the statistics published by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), slightly more than half of the students, 51.7%, in Turkey are women. However, women make up only 35% of the students studying in STEM programs, and the rate of women working in areas related to STEM is just 10%. To keep up with the pace of the developments in the 21st century, we need to increase our labor force in technology, and this is not possible without women.”
Bechara Sader, General Manager of Shangri-La Bosphorus Istanbul, said: “We are honored and happy to welcome TürkTraktör and the Woman in Technology Association in the biggest vision meeting of the year. As Shangri-La, one of our commitments is to ‘Do good’ in economically, socially and environmentally sustainable activities in all the locations we are active. We wholeheartedly believe in our sprouts and the program, which adds lasting value by empowering women in the fields of technology and entrepreneurship.”
