by: Ariunzaya Munkhbat
Coding has a reputation problem. Among teenagers, especially girls, it’s often seen as complicated, isolating, and frankly, not for them. On September 9, 2025, the STREAM IT Project teamed up with Telia to tackle this head-on. Hosted at Telia’s Malmö office, the STREAM IT Hackathon for Girls brought together students aged 14-18 for an afternoon of coding, creativity, and mentorship. The one-day hackathon offered a powerful message: technology is not an exclusive club. Through hands-on challenges and playful problem-solving, the hackathon showed that coding is not just about complex syntax or sitting alone behind a screen. It is a creative and collaborative way to turn ideas into reality.
BREAKING THE CODE THROUGH PLAY
Led by Hackathon leader Gabi Filip, the Hackathon began with an interactive icebreaker called “You Are the Computer.” Rather than starting with screens and programming languages, participants first experienced the logic behind coding through role play.
The girls took on three different roles:
🤖 The Computer: Followed instructions literally.
👩💻 The Programmer: Gave clear and step-by-step instructions.
🐞 The Debugger: Identified mistakes, or “bugs,” and suggested ways to fix them.
What began as a playful activity quickly became a practical lesson in programming. Participants experienced firsthand how computers depend on precise instructions and how even a small mistake can change an outcome.
FROM INSTRUCTIONS TO ANIMATION
In the second half of the Hackathon, the girls moved from role play to hands-on coding using Scratch, a beginner-friendly programming platform. Working individually and in collaborative groups, the girls built interactive digital projects from scratch, including programming sprites to dance in response to user inputs.
The room quickly filled with the energy of active troubleshooting and celebration. As participants hit key breakthroughs, they proudly showcased their functional projects, replacing initial hesitation with a chorus of “I did it!” moments.
SEEING A PATHWAY INTO TECH
The event culminated in a keynote role-model session led by Telia’s Heidi Hellström and co-hosted by Madeleine Holst. Hellström shared her authentic career journey into the technology sector, focusing on navigating the industry, overcoming imposter syndrome, and transforming natural curiosity into a tangible career path.
By hearing directly from women thriving in the industry, the participants realized that success in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) does not require innate technical perfection. It simply requires perseverance, curiosity, and the willingness to try.
SCALING THE IMPACT
Events like the Hackathon for Girls with Telia accomplish far more than teaching introductory technical skills; they actively expand what young women view as possible for their own futures. When girls experience coding as an accessible, creative medium and connect with female professionals who validate their presence in the room, the likelihood of them pursuing STEAM subjects increases dramatically.
Backed by EU funding, the STREAM IT Project is anchored in this exact methodology by using targeted, early exposure to dismantle the gender gap in technology. To build on this momentum, Wonderfund AB is currently adapting this proven hackathon framework into deployable toolkits. By equipping schools and municipalities with these resources, the initiative ensures that more girls will discover their capacity to not just consume technology, but to create it.
Funded by the European Union.
101131843 — STREAM IT — HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ERA-01
Streaming Girls and Women into STEAM Education, Innovation and Research.