Innovation plays a pivotal role in driving progress across various domains. However, the success of any innovation is intrinsically linked to its ability to meet the genuine needs of end-users. Innovation through empathy is a concept that emphasizes understanding and addressing the needs, desires, and emotions of people to create meaningful solutions to various situations. It involves applying the Design Thinking concept, a human-centered approach, to management practices to drive innovation and improve organizational outcomes. IDEO's Human-Centered Design Toolkit explains that, in the world of design thinking, empathy is a “deep understanding of the problems and realities of the people you are designing for.” Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others and it allows us to see things from another's perspective rather than our own. It is a crucial skill that enables social and professional relationships, develops self-awareness, and contributes to an equitable and peaceful world in accordance with the United Nations (UN). In recent years, virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a powerful instrument for enhancing empathy and understanding among individuals. Virtual reality has been employed by various organizations as a means to cultivate empathy. Based on the Multidimensional Emotional Empathy Scale (MDEES), this study measures the level of empathy in a group of 70 third-semester engineering students at a private university before and after viewing Virtual Reality videos created by the students themselves and aided by a 360 camera as well as special viewers. These videos depict a situation that elderly people might face in their daily lives, one that would render them vulnerable or put them in danger, such as mobility issues, visual impairments, hearing limitations, among others. Once such a situation was identified, they were tasked with recording a 360-degree video, which they had to prepare and edit for viewing with virtual reality goggles, and then present it to their peers. The objective of this research is to identify the increased development of empathy in students of various engineering careers in a private university through the development of virtual reality (VR) videos made by themselves.

In recent years we have enthusiastically seen how the number of efforts to reduce the gender gap has increased. Although there is extensive research confirming the success of initiatives such as mentoring for women in STEM areas, a high percentage of those who take part in leading and managing this type of initiative are women (students, teachers, managers), and only 20% of the participants are male students and teacher, according to records of participation of these initiatives in a private university in Mexico. An anonymous electronic survey applied to male professors and students from the university willing to share with us their opinions. According to the evaluation instrument, the results were divided into the impact that taking part or not in an initiative has had to reduce the gender gap or not with respect to its gender equity perspective. Although positive results of the impact of participating in an initiative that seeks to achieve gender equity in the STEM areas in the School of Engineering and Sciences of Tecnologico de Monterrey are shown in the analyzed sample, there is also information on a small percentage that argues that they are not interested. to participate in this type of initiatives and whose perspective is that currently men and women have the same opportunities. In the same way, a point of attention is that one of the reasons for those who have not participated in any gender equality initiative in STEM areas is because the programs they have known only involve women. The purpose of this research is to measure the impact of gender equity initiatives on the perspective that men have on the issue comparing opinions of those who have had the opportunity to take part with those who have not taken part in any of them.

In August 2019, the national initiative Women in Engineering and Sciences (MIC) was launched with the objective of raising awareness and monitoring gender equity, equal opportunities and women empowerment. This project, led by a group of professors, hopes to accompany, support and join efforts, for a stronger impact within our academic community. This study presents the work of the linking committee towards the empowerment of women engineers through linked experiences. The methodology of this work includes: 1) integrating a multi-campus team to work in the engagement and linking committee, 2) identifying internal efforts towards the empowerment of women, as well as external efforts in companies, organizations and other universities through research and interviews, and mapping the networking ecosystem 3) analyze the information to identify key partners for collaborative projects, and 4) create a community by implementing Lean In circles (leanin.org) and replicate the project at other campuses. The work done and the reflections hope to be a roadmap and source of inspiration to other engineering institutions working towards a culture of gender equality and women empowerment.

In recent years, global efforts to generate a culture of gender equity have been made. However, in Latin American countries, these efforts have been insufficient in the presence of the latent reality of inequality and violence suffered by women. Faced with this reality, universities should not be distant from this environment, so initiatives have been developed that impact women and this culture of gender equity, especially in the academic area. The purpose of this research is to determine the variables that directly affect the engagement of public high school students in their development and empowerment as women and to awaken their interest in STEM areas, and the personal impact in undergraduate students of STEM areas about equity gender and social responsibility. The methodology is of a mixed nature: 1) design of Mentoring Program and workshops in STEM and Gender equity, and research́s methodology planning; 2) integration of the leading team, 3) implementation of the program with public high school women students, undergraduate students, and women teacher of STEM areas; 4) preliminary evaluations through beneficiary surveys, reflection blogs with undergraduate students and interviews with a sample of student mentors and mentor teachers; and 5) data analysis and exploration of the replicability of the model on another campus. Among the preliminary findings with high school women students are: a) a high interest in topics of STEM careers (despite not being in the specialty in high school), b) resources limitations and time restrictions due to their reality and c) a personal discovery through the interaction of undergraduate women students and women teachers, both as mentors. Despite the circumstances, it was decided to develop it because this reality cannot wait to seek a change, and it is the women helping other young women that can make possible the cultural and social change.