By Tolu Oyekan, Partner, BCG
Over the years, the study of STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) has increasingly gained grounds across
the world. Nigeria is not left out as
many young people are becoming more interested in studying science subjects at
secondary and tertiary levels of education.
This is no surprise as our world today is
largely driven by technology. Technology
encompasses practically every facet of our lives. Life has become easier through the
application of technology. For instance,
Information and
communication technology (ICT) has proven to be invaluable as the world tries
to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic challenges. The application of ICT tools kept
people connected, made essential services accessible and sustained businesses.
The 21st century brought about lots of
scientific innovations which have propelled the need for students at different
levels to become more proficient in the knowledge of STEM. Besides Physics,
Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics; other STEM subjects include Actuarial Science, Statistics,
Psychology, Robotics, Information Science, Atmospheric Sciences and Educational
Research.
Experts have discovered that early exposure of
students to STEM and technology-related subjects will help young people develop
a passion for technological pursuits and eventually help them pursue a job in a
STEM field.
Right now, the fastest growing job categories are related to STEM with recent studies
indicating new jobs in areas such as data analysis, software development and
data visualization, virtual reality, artificial intelligence etc.
However, girls are highly under-represented in
STEM and ICT classes; globally the percentage of young girls undertaking ICT
courses range from 8.9% in Switzerland to 20.0% in United States, except for
India with 50.5%. What this means is that except this trend changes, women will
remain under-represented in the future workplaces.
This year, the International Girls in ICT Day held
on April 22 with the theme: ‘Connected Girls, Creating Brighter Futures’. On
this day every year, stakeholders in the technology space and indeed all of us,
should seek opportunities to empower girls to develop digital skills so as to
pursue careers enabled by technology.
As these young girls move on to take up various
careers in the ICT sphere, they are faced with several challenges, particularly
finding a perfect work-life balance. Conditions like pregnancy, breastfeeding
and child care pitched against rigorous work hours, put many women in
disadvantaged positions. In many cases, childcare centres are not found close
to places of work resulting in women working part-time or accepting lower
paying jobs to focus on their homes or quitting their career early.
There is also the glass ceiling issue
affecting females in ICT such as gender biases during appointments, promotion
and career improvement opportunities as well as harassment, biased evaluation
by peers along with familial responsibilities, which could cause increased
stress.
There could be several factors which account
for the under-representation of girls in STEM. One which is quite obvious, is
the issue of the environment, culture as well as the emphasis on gender
equality and encouragement of growth mindset. A report from the American
Association of University Women (AAUW) shows that the learning environment and
social belief system affect girls’ interest and achievements in STEM/ICT subjects.
Another study showed that in countries like
Sweden and Iceland where gender parity prevails, girls perform better than boys
on Math tests. On the other hand, girls from countries like Turkey where gender
discrimination is greater, don’t do well in Math tests.
Research also shows that majority of people
view STEM fields as which should be ideally dominated by men; a view which
still holds sway to this day. Society views women in science and engineering
jobs as less competent than men unless they are exhibiting success tendencies.
No doubt, there are many women who are
exceling in science and ICT-related fields.
Some examples of women excelling in ICT globally include Sheryl Kara
Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook and founder of LeanIn.org; Ruth
Porat, Chief Financial Officer of Alphabet Inc and its subsidiary, Google and
Ginni Rometty, Former Chairman, President and CEO of IBM, In Nigeria,
worthy role models for girls are Funke Opeke, founder, Main One Technologies;
Omobola Johnson, former Nigerian Minister for Communication Technology; Juliet
Ehimuan, Country Manager Nigeria, Google; and Cherry Eromosele Group Chief
Marketing and Communications Officer at Interswitch, to name a few.
The beautiful thing is that girls definitely
bring a fresh sense of perspective to problem solving in the classrooms and
workplaces as professionals. One of such ways is using her ‘voice’; by this, I
don’t just mean talking. It is when a girl challenges the status quo, excels at
her studies, contributes in making policies or suggests an idea that moves
their schools or organisation towards a new course of action.
Some studies have shown that teams with women as leaders
were more successful when facing tasks that are more mentally challenging and
required complex problem-solving abilities.
But this good performance only showed if the women spoke up, if the men believed
that women were capable contributors, and if the team acted on the women’s
suggestions.
To ensure girls are more interested in STEM and
ICT careers, women already in these fields should get more involved in the
development of STEM policies which will favour and encourage girls to develop
interest in these subjects. These will include exposing girls to STEM fields,
encouraging participation in STEM programmes, providing scholarships, as well
as supporting learning opportunities in communities.
And men can be effective allies in the gender
equality conversations. They can start with listening their female conterparts
and taking their concerns seriously. Men in position of authority can bring
their influence to bear by amplifying women’s voices, educating other men
against stereotype, credit women’s work and ideas fairly, advocate for policies
that removes bias and advances equality. More importantly, men should show
their support, at home, workplace and other social circles.
At Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the
education and encouragement of girls to fit adequately into the future of jobs,
is a core aspect of our ‘Back to The Future’ agenda. Currently, there are more
women in the BCG workforce in Lagos, than there are men. Working with this crop
of brilliant women have brought interesting and insightful perspectives to
problem- solving. So, I know first-hand that women bring fresh perspective to
problem-solving.
I hope that more girls will begin to have
affinity for STEM subjects and capacity will be built in ICT-based endeavours
to gain new skills and enhance problem solving.
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