Rome, March 6, 2025. On the occasion of March 8th, International Women's Day, Italo is launching a project to celebrate Italian women who have made their mark on history. These women, often unknown to the general public or students, will be the focus of an awareness and recognition campaign promoted by the company. To start, Italo has decided to dedicate one of its trains to Laura Bassi Veratti (Bologna, 1711 – 1778), the first female university professor and the first European woman to obtain a university teaching position in physics (at the University of Bologna). This symbolic gesture aims to honor Laura Bassi's extraordinary contribution to science and education, while also inspiring new generations. Throughout the year, other outstanding Italian women will be selected to have additional trains named after them: through a contest launched among employees, the Italo community will select the figures who will give their names to the company's trains. The shortlist of great personalities that Italo will present to employees includes Cristina Roccati (Italian physicist and poet who graduated in Bologna in 1751; her degree was the third academic title awarded to a woman in Italy), Giuseppina Aliverti (Italian geophysicist who graduated in 1919 in Turin, Director of the Geophysical Observatory of Pavia and corresponding member of the Accademia dei Lincei), and Cesarina Monti (biologist, physiologist, limnologist, and zoologist; in 1907 she was the first woman to obtain a university chair in the Kingdom of Italy).
The information and awareness campaign will continue throughout the year: Italo is forming partnerships with leading Italian universities to support the academic paths of female STEM students, in addition to collaborating on the "Women in STEM" project launched by Fabiana Giacomotti, a costume historian and journalist, who will dedicate her monthly column in Italo Magazine to these Italian women who have contributed to scientific and technological research and development. This is a concrete commitment from the railway company, which boasts a 50% female workforce among its 1,500 employees. Women are present in both operational roles and staff positions. Italo aims to promote young women's access to subjects and educational paths that are still too male-dominated today. The latest ISTAT report shows that 25% of young people (aged 25-34) with a tertiary degree have a degree in scientific and technological disciplines, the so-called STEM degrees; the share rises to 37% among men while it drops to 16.8% among women, highlighting a significant gender gap. The project will conclude on February 11, 2026, coinciding with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. "We are a company that has always placed people at the center of its strategy. We believe that every role should match people's skills, their abilities, and their educational background. There is no male or female job. We want to convey this culture to our entire community by naming our trains after Italian women who have made history and are still not widely known," commented Italo's CEO, Gianbattista La Rocca.
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