The third academic year of Advancing Girls in Science, a program led by L’Oréal Israel with Kol Israel Haverim’s Shattering the Glass Ceiling initiative and Netanya’s Tamar Ariel School, launched this week, aiming to shift perceptions and give practical tools that encourage girls, especially from Israel’s social and geographic periphery, to choose and persist in STEM studies and careers.
Marking the new year, partners held a kickoff event on Thursday with about 30 10th-grade students beginning another year of hands-on learning, mentoring, and exposure to scientific fields. The session was attended by L’Oréal Israel CEO Eli Sagiv; Nira Hillel Amir, director of Shattering the Glass Ceiling; Ariella Yaari, L’Oréal Israel’s VP of communications and sustainability; and scientist-entrepreneur Sharon Barak, founder of Solutum.
Technological innovation
Sagiv told the students that advancing girls in science is both a value and a business imperative for a company rooted in research and technology. “L’Oréal is committed to promoting gender equality and is founded on scientific and technological innovation, 60% of our scientists and researchers are women,” he said. “We know that women need science, but no less than that, science needs more women.” Despite progress, he added, “in 2025, the world and Israel still have a significant underrepresentation of women in science and technology fields, and we are here to change that gap.”
Addressing the pivotal nature of high-school track selections, Sagiv urged the girls to keep STEM options open. “Behind every formula, new beauty product, or artificial intelligence application stand female scientists and engineers who dream and achieve,” he said. “Do not give up on scientific and technological tracks because they seem difficult. Believe in yourselves, work hard, and fulfill your dreams.”
Barak, whose lecture opened the program day, said 10th grade is a critical inflection point, noting a “significant dropout rate” of girls from scientific tracks that the partners are working to reverse. Sharing her personal path in science and entrepreneurship, she focused on building confidence and “cracking the glass ceilings” that still deter many girls from pursuing STEM.
Hillel Amir said the collaboration provides real-world exposure and reinforces a growth mindset. “We see the change happening in practice,” she said. “Girls who start the journey with apprehension finish it with self-confidence, scientific curiosity, and a genuine desire to push forward.”
The multi-year program combines inspiration with applied skills: site visits and labs, encounters with women scientists and engineers, and practical workshops designed to help students choose higher-level math and science tracks and to persist through matriculation and beyond. While women today account for roughly a third of the global science workforce, the partners say targeted interventions at key decision points can narrow gaps and expand opportunity.
L’Oréal Israel said the initiative reflects the company’s broader commitments to innovation, women’s empowerment, diversity, and inclusion, and to building a more equal and sustainable future through education. The new cohort at Tamar Ariel School, now entering its third year in the program, will continue an “experiential journey of inspiration, learning, and scientific engagement,” the partners said.