eBusiness Weekly
Business Writer
Fostering gender inclusivity in creating digital solutions will remain a pre-requisite for bridging the gender gap in the growing field of technology, as women still lag behind in Zimbabwe and across the region.
The world over, digitalisation is fast becoming the norm, which has been spurred by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic with technology companies increasingly influencing direction for the future in health services, manufacturing, financial services, transport and logistics as well as communication.
Liquid Intelligent Technologies chief business officer Southern African Region, Lorreta Songola, however, highlights that the gender disparity in the sector with fewer women across levels will make it difficult to achieve equality.
“Our lives have gone digital. From the products we use daily to the content we consume online, tech companies are increasingly influencing the direction of humanity and creating the solutions of the future. But for far too long we have lacked female voices in tech and the time has come to remedy that.
“Advances in technology will surely not consider women’s issues if there are no women to point them in that direction. Women need to be part of the conversation that is creating solutions for the future of the human race so that we can achieve equality,” she said.
During the last International Girls in ICT Day, Government acknowledged the gender disparity within the sector, creating scope for both public and private sector collaboration in promoting women and girls as innovators, engineers and decision making positions within the sector.
Gender disparity in science and technology is not unique to Zimbabwe and Africa alone but is a global challenge although more prevalent in Africa. According to Project Syndicate, in sub-Saharan Africa the overall female labour-force participation rate has reached 61 percent, yet women constitute only 30 percent of professionals in the technology industry.
According to Songola, these statistics throw into light the huge gap between women and men in exploring careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, collectively known as STEM.
“There still exists historical barriers preventing women from being equally represented in the industry, let alone in leadership positions. One of these is the misconception that stereotypical female attributes, such as emotion and compassion, are not suitable for tech-related careers.
“The other is that women cannot be successful in leadership roles because of the many other perceived traditional responsibilities they have to fulfil in society, such as being caregivers and taking care of the home,” she said.
Songola noted changing misconceptions early on is necessary to attract more women to work in technology and encourage future leaders in industry for instance addressing the imbalance starting in schools and tertiary level where curriculums have been modified to expose young learners to the world of technology.
According to the 2017 national survey on ICT Access and Use by Education Institutions, 59,9 percent of male students had access to a computer against 40,1 percent of female students from ECD A to polytechnic colleges.
Songola added mentorship also becomes critical in influencing young women to not only succeed in their chosen fields, but also help them to stay the course in the face of challenges.
She said: “With women, true and impactful mentorship programmes extend beyond the career to include work-life balance and life stage transition challenges that they are often faced with.”
