More than 100 teenage girls from seven Illawarra schools stepped into the world of science and technology on Tuesday, with workshops including computer coding, examining the mechanics of prosthetic limbs, and engineering in disaster relief.

"It's an international trend that girls shy away from science and maths," deputy principal Natasha Watt said.

"We know girls have the capacity in physics, chemistry, the harder sciences and advanced mathematics, so this is about making kids aware about the human side of technical subjects and why they're so important."

Ms Watt was part of the school's Girls Education Committee who saw it as a way to get girls thinking "they can do these technical subjects" and try to increase the low numbers of women in the sector.

They chose to begin the program with students in year 10 to help them with subject selection for their HSC, and also year 8 students to push for a "cultural shift".

"We're trying to embed in the younger years there are no barriers [to studying technical subjects], and it's absolutely fine for girls to follow their talent area," Ms Watt said.

Destiny Paris from the University of Wollongong's Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences spoke about her personal experience as an electrical engineer in the Australian Defence Force working with robotics, then moving into building and lighting design and creating an art sculpture for the Vivid festival.

"If we look at industry at the moment a lot of the jobs are transitioning into highly technical [areas] and using digital technology - so regardless of whether you work in business, finance, engineering, IT, or education, you're going to need these digital literacy skills behind you," Ms Paris said.