The significance of the annual celebration of International women’s day cannot be over emphasized. It is a special day set aside to acknowledge and celebrate women’s role, positions, efforts, contributions and accomplishments in different spheres of life both in their societies and globally. It is a day that champions the value of womanhood. It seeks to define the true essence of womanhood beyond the stereotypes and sentiments associated with the gender, it portrays the strength of every woman beyond the idea that a “woman’s place is strictly relegated to the home”.
As a young girl aspiring to become a distinguished lawyer and prolific writer, this international day celebration of women is a big motivation not only to me but to other young aspiring girls all over the world that indeed the world acknowledges the value of a woman to nation building and builds the desire to work towards greatness in our various endeavors.
Just like previous celebration of the international women’s day, this year’s celebration also comes with another interesting theme which is very crucial in our present world. This year’s theme has being declared by the United Nations Women’s organization as :
DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality
In our present world, the digital, innovation and technology sector is growing rapidly and reflecting various forms of changes in our society and globally. It is important for all persons to be carried along in a world of technological advancement. Thus, it is crucial to examine the role of women and secure their position in the tech world and other spheres of life so as to promote gender equality and empower them economically and socially, where they will get the opportunity to contribute to the growth of their society and the world at large.
The world today is swiftly advancing in technology and digital operations, we have instances like the mobile banking systems which has helped provide fast and easy means of cash transactions, online purchase etc, digital innovations like Artificial intelligence (AI), Data science, Coding Programmes, and tech skills amongst many other digital advancements. But sadly, in this fast growing industry, the place of women has not been properly defined and the rate of women participation in tech and innovation is very low compared to their male counterparts.
For decades, women have struggled to give themselves a voice in different sectors of their society and nation building, part of the efforts to further champion this course is the advocacy for innovation and technology to be used as a platform to achieve gender equality. Therefore, this year’s celebration is focused on the campaign for gender inclusiveness and equality for a balanced representation in the digital world.
In other for the digital world to champion the course of equality, there must first be a balanced proportion of women in the tech industry who are actively participating in it and have made head way in the industry, but presently, it is a male dominated industry as there are no much representation of women who are tech experts, however there are still women who have broke the barriers and are bridging the gap. Such women include:
• Abah Laraba Favour : She is a seasoned data scientist, health Reasercher and techprenuer. She works as a researcher at intercountry center for oral health for Africa, Data science tutor at dataline analytic and a data science fellow at Tech up Africa. Part of her contributions towards gender equality in the innovation and technology industry, is an upcoming free training coding programme for teenage girls to encourage female participation in the tech industry. Favour also serves as a mentor to young girls and women who aspire to accomplish great things in the tech world and in their personal lives too and is an advocate for living the right Christian life.
• Aniekan Inyang : she started out on her career path as an intern at the computer unit, Ministry of finance, Akwa Ibom state secretariat, Nigeria has always loved the use of data to help brands build new things, give solutions to problems, and fasten processes. She desires to in fact raise a community of women who are interested in Artificial intelligence. She is a Data scientist at Stears Business.
• Adora Nwodo : she is a software engineer based in Lagos, Nigeria. Having gathered experiences over the years, authoring a guidebook that helps people launch into their careers in cloud engineering. She works at Microsoft currently, she also shares a lot of her experiences as a woman in tech on LinkedIn, and Twitter.
• Ibukun Akinnawo : Ibukun served for about 6 years in the fintech industry as a business process outsourcing expert. From working at Paystack, to Kuda bank which are very popular tech brands, she kept soaring on and on, being the head of the launch team at Pawapay. Overall, she is very passionate about women getting into tech, and holding their forte.
These women and many more are examples of women making a difference and breaking the stereotypes on women in the digital industry. International female figures in the digital industry also includes : Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls Code, Elizabeth Churchill, senior director of user experience at Google, Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, and many other long list of tech women.
There are different means whereby stakeholders in the technology and innovation industry can promote gender equality, such means include
• Creating Awareness : Different awareness programmes such as seminars, webinars, talk shows, and different programmes should be organized which will seek to educate and enlighten young girls and women of the different opportunities available in the tech industry. This will further boost female participation and bridge the gender gap as it will help them define their areas of interest in the digital atmosphere.
• Digital based competitions should be organized specially for women and girls to showcase their skill and prowess in technology, this will also expose them to tech companies who will in turn seek to incorporate such brilliant minds into the tech industry.
• Provision of scholarships : scholarships opportunities should be provided to sponsor women who are learning tech courses in other to graduate more female tech brains into the industry to boost equal gender representation.
• Provision of mentors and role models through mentorship programmes will go a long way to enhance the zeal and desire to seek career options in the digital world especially for women and girls.
When such measures and other promising steps are taken, there will be a boost in gender equality in the tech sector. Aside that, innovation and technology can be used as a means to spread the campaign of gender equality in various social, economic and political sectors of a nation and the global community. Such means include :
• Promoting articles, essays, etc that support the struggle for gender equality on internet spaces.
• Through information technology the equal rights of women and girls will be championed to secure their unlimited inclusion in different sectors of nation building.
• Through the use of technological gadgets like smartphones, laptops etc, women can report cases of discrimination and unequal treatment they face in their affairs of life to the appropriate authorities, human rights organizations etc that will provide legal backing for them.
• Through digital spaces and social media platforms, women all over the world can easily connect with each other to provide empowerment for themselves in other to empower more women and reduce the gender inequality ratio.
Over the centuries, women have led liberation movements for gender equality and it can be said that presently, we can see improvements and more success to be attained. With this form of campaign, enlightenment, education and support from renowned world organizations, institutions and individual support, the goal towards a gender balanced and friendly environment will be achieved. On this special day, we celebrate our mothers, sisters, daughters, aunties and every woman out there who is doing her best to change the narrative for good.
Women are nation builders and so when given the chance to contribute to their society, they not only create a change for themselves but also for everyone around them. Therefore, we should DigitALL to attain a balanced and developed society and world globally.
#happyinternationalwomensday
#IWD
Reference
Heels and tech: Top 15 most successful Nigerian women in tech.
https://heelsandtech.com/top-15-most-successful-nigerian-women-in-tech/
Abah Ojonoma Goodness, a 100 level, Law student, University of Abuja.
0 Comments