Ingrid Acuña: from Freire to the TECH world thanks to Luksic Scholarship
With effort, vision and the support of the Luksic Foundation’s “Luksic Scholarship: More Women in STEM”, Ingrid Acuña is making her way in the technological world from La Araucanía, challenging gender gaps and projecting her own entrepreneurship.
In a country where only 11% of technical professional students opt for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers, according to figures from the Ministry of Education, stories like Ingrid Acuña’s show that change is possible. Hailing from the commune of Freire and a student of Technical Programmer Analyst at the Instituto Profesional Santo Tomás in Temuco, Ingrid is only a year away from graduating, after a turn in her life motivated by the desire to advance and offer a better future to her daughter.
“I had my daughter and I knew I couldn’t do nothing, I had to study,” she says. Before starting his path in technology, he was an athlete and worked in the administrative area of the Army. But over time he felt he was falling behind technologically. That’s when he decided to opt for new training.
The boost also came from the “Luksic More Women in STEM Scholarship”, an initiative of the Luksic Foundation that has benefited 200 women between 2024 and 2025, nationwide. “The scholarship meant a small break. It helped me pay debts, support my daughter and even buy a cell phone I didn’t have. It has been a giant help,” says Ingrid.
This program of the Foundation seeks to reduce gender gaps in areas with high labor projection and focuses on women who often study and work at the same time: 68% of the scholarship recipients are in this situation, and 67% are the main breadwinners.
“Promoting the training of women in these areas is key to the country’s development. These careers offer greater job opportunities, better salaries and drive innovation. With this scholarship, we hope to open doors to new leaders,” said Fernanda Orellana, Director of Education at the Luksic Foundation.
For Ingrid, the goal is clear: she wants to be a technology entrepreneur. She dreams of setting up her own technological solutions workshop, understanding that experience will be key along the way. “I have the vision that when you start working, you are only now fully formed,” she says.
Her story is part of a growing network: women who study, dream and build the future from their own communities.
