According to a report by Público newspaper, Rosa Monteiro wants to include more women and young people from disadvantaged areas in STEAM courses (science, engineering, arts, technology and mathematics).

Until 10 September, two tenders for support from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) are open to universities and Polytechnic institutes: the Young Impulse and the Adult Impulse.

The young impulse programme is aimed at increasing the number of graduates, masters and doctorates in STEAM subjects, while the adult impulse programme aims to build partnerships between higher education institutions and employers, to leverage the qualifications of workers (over 23 years old) through short training courses.

According to regulation cited by the Público newspaper, applications must be submitted through partnership agreements and/or consortia and the amount of support may vary between €2 million and €40 million for the period 2021-26.
Among the objectives mentioned are the promotion of greater participation of young people in higher education and the reduction of school dropouts.

According to the notice, "alliances/programmes should contain concrete measures to mitigate inequalities, either in economic terms, seeking to encourage the entry into higher education of students from disadvantaged territories, or in terms of gender, seeking to encourage the entry of students from the female sex in the STEAM areas”.

In the letter sent to university rectors and polytechnic presidents, Monteiro asks them to try to use “this opportunity to increase the participation rates of girls and women in the field of information and communication technologies”.