Online Event "STEM Day" to Connect High School Girls with Senior STEM Professionals to be Held on August 26! Applications Now Open: Learn About STEM Careers Through 12 Themes Including Data, Space, Games, and Finance

The Yamada Shintaro Diversity & Inclusion Foundation (hereinafter referred to as "the Foundation") will hold an online event called "STEM Day" on August 26, 2026, as part of its "Girls Meet STEM" tour-style experiential program for junior and senior high school girls in STEM fields. Applications for participation opened today. Participation is free.

"STEM Day" is a one-day online event. The themes are diverse, covering data and AI, materials that support our lives, vehicles such as cars, games, money and investment, and more. Senior women who studied STEM in university will share their experiences with career choices and the realities of their jobs. The event is for female students from the first year of junior high school to the third year of senior high school*1, and participants can freely join any session that interests them, regardless of their academic track.

Application Page: https://gms.shinfdn.org/stemday2026summer/

"STEM Day" is an event designed to provide junior and senior high school girls with opportunities to meet relatable role models and broaden their understanding of their own potential. Through "Girls Meet STEM," the Foundation has previously offered various ways to experience STEM fields firsthand, such as in-person company tours and outreach lectures at schools. However, many students wish to participate, and according to the Foundation's data, in fiscal year 2025, there were 12,921 applications in total, but only about half, 52%, were able to participate. There are also regions where in-person programs are not available nearby. "STEM Day" is an online event that can be accessed from anywhere in the country, free from such regional or capacity constraints.

While Japanese girls' academic performance in mathematics and science is among the world's top levels, the proportion of women majoring in STEM fields (Faculty of Science and Faculty of Engineering) in university is the lowest among OECD member countries, at 18.08%*2. One of the reasons cited for this is not a lack of academic ability, but a shortage of opportunities to encounter relatable role models and envision future careers. That is precisely why we want to use "STEM Day" to provide as many students as possible with the opportunity to consider their career paths after exploring various fields.

*1: Includes individuals who identify as female. *2: Calculated from OECD "Share of new entrants and graduates in each field of education by gender" (as of 2023).

◾️ Event Highlights

A total of 36 senior professionals will speak across 12 sessions. Professionals working in diverse fields such as IT, automotive, materials, finance, food, space, and games/entertainment will share their experiences of struggling with career choices between humanities and sciences, and the realities of their current jobs. Representative sessions include:

Let's Peek Behind the Scenes of Familiar Entertainment Like Games and Radio!

- Information Technology → Creating the home screen for game consoles - Information Science → Game planning - Physics (Faculty of Science) → Radio program production and planning new audio media

Ask Senior Professionals in the IT Industry! How to Create a Better Future with the Power of Data

- Mechanical and Information Engineering (Faculty of Engineering) → Using machine learning to detect fraudulent listings - Biology (Faculty of Science) → Data scientist - Civil and Environmental Engineering (Faculty of Engineering) → Algorithm development for taxi-hailing apps

Working in Sales, Customer Service, or Consulting Despite a STEM Background? Let's Learn About Unexpected Careers!

- Information Science → AI implementation and IT consulting in the newspaper industry - Applied Biological Chemistry (Faculty of Agriculture) → Sales and public relations for regenerative medicine products - Applied Chemistry (Faculty of Engineering) → Customer service to convey the appeal of leather goods

In addition to these, there are 12 themes in total, including careers in space, working abroad, materials, vehicles, and finance/investment.

◾️ Event Overview

Event Name: "STEM Day"

Date and Time: August 26, 2026 (Wed) 13:00 - 20:00

Format: Online (Zoom)

Target Audience: Female students from the 1st year of junior high school to the 3rd year of senior high school (including those who identify as female)

Content: 12 sessions (planned, 60 minutes each). Includes quizzes, icebreakers by speakers, panel discussions, and Q&A sessions with participants.

Participation Fee: Free

Capacity: None (pre-registration required)

Application Deadline: August 25, 2026 (Tue) 12:00

Application Page: https://gms.shinfdn.org/stemday2026summer/

Organizer: Yamada Shintaro Diversity & Inclusion Foundation

◾️ Participation in "Girls Meet STEM"

"Girls Meet STEM" is seeking new corporate, university, and college of technology partners.

If you are interested, please contact us at the following:

Inquiries regarding participation (for companies, universities, and colleges of technology):

https://share.hsforms.com/2mZnzIiyZQZWKpO8pp5Txlwr8gla

◾️ About "Girls Meet STEM"

"Girls Meet STEM" is a tour-style experiential program in STEM fields for junior and senior high school girls, implemented by the Foundation in cooperation with colleges of technology, universities, companies, and research institutions. Participants visit campuses, laboratories, and company offices to experience actual STEM workplaces, and through interaction with university students, graduate students, and working women, they broaden their possibilities for higher education and careers.

"Girls Meet STEM" Program Official Website: https://gms.shinfdn.org/

◾️ About the Yamada Shintaro Diversity & Inclusion Foundation

The Yamada Shintaro Diversity & Inclusion Foundation was established in July 2021 by Mercari CEO Shintaro Yamada with the aim of creating a society where everyone can demonstrate their abilities through the promotion of D&I (Diversity & Inclusion).

It focuses particularly on the gender gap in STEM fields and develops initiatives to support junior and senior high school girls in their pursuit of STEM education and career choices.

Representative Director: Shintaro Yamada (Representative Executive Officer & CEO, Mercari, Inc.)

Date of Establishment: July 1, 2021 (Thu)

Yamada Shintaro Diversity & Inclusion Foundation Official Website:

https://shinfdn.org/

【General Inquiries】

Secretariat, Yamada Shintaro Diversity & Inclusion Foundation

Email: [email protected]