Break the bias with digital inclusion for women

In 2003, during Melinda Gates’ impassioned speech about women’s development and education for Powerful Voices, she made the famous quote, “A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult”. The quote was about uplifting women, especially women in developing countries, to find their voices. But almost two decades later, women’s participation in education and Science Technology and Mathematics (STEM) is still low in developing countries like Nigeria.

In Nigeria, young men are almost twice as likely as women to have a career in technology and computer-related fields. When you scratch deeper, the stats are grimmer. Only a fifth of women work in the Information and Technology sector. In fact, just 22% of the total Engineering and Technology university graduates are women. With these numbers, Melinda Gates was right: the search for women to find their voices in tech fields is “remarkably difficult”.

As digitalisation continues to grow, it’s expected that over 80% of jobs will require digital skills in the next decade. At the current exclusion rate, women will be passive onlookers in key technological areas. That’s why the 2022 International Women’s Day (IWD) theme—Break the Bias—rightly focuses on correcting the stereotypes and biases that hinder the inclusion of women, especially in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) space.

Following the IWD theme, Nigeria must be more equitable and inclusive of women. One way to make that happen is hiring and retaining more women in tech roles. Cultural biases and limiting stereotypes about the emotional adaptability of women skew the hiring process against women.

Organisations can fix this by creating and enforcing inclusivity laws where women have a fair chance at employment based on their skills alone.

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Secondly, investing in women-focused programmes is paramount. Hiring more women is important, but it’ll not miraculously fix the gender imbalance in tech job roles. For instance, in Nigeria, more women are out of school compared to men. How do women compete fairly if they aren’t well equipped? That’s why it’s important to invest in women-focused initiatives. These initiatives provide the relevant skills and mentorship to improve the education and employability status of women. One of such women-centric initiatives is Webfala Digital Skills

For All Initiative, a Nigerian nonprofit organisation committed to building a more inclusive technology ecosystem to empower more women with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and digital literacy skills to enable them to create their own future and compete favourably in this digital age

“We are still relegating women to the traditional role of keeping the home. Women do not have enough support to encourage them to become who they aspire to be. Also, there exist biases in terms of their physical strength as they are seen as weaker vessels…”. Dr Oluseun

Popola—coordinator of Women in Technical Education and Development. Dr Oluseun’s words highlight the prevalent stereotypes that stifle women’s participation in the ICT sector.

And this leads to the third point: we—you and I—must unlearn stereotypes that dent women’s development. Women have the mental, emotional, and physical abilities to understand educational concepts. In essence, skillsets aren’t gender-based. And women shouldn’t be relegated because of their gender.

As Melinda Gates noted in her lengthy remark for Powerful Voices, “… the search [for women to] find [their] voice is remarkably difficult”. But we can all join hands to Break the Bias and make it easier for women to find their voices in the digital space. Webfala Digital Skills For All Initiative is doing this by equipping female graduates in Kwara State with digital skills. What are you doing in your corner to Break the Bias?

Bakare Opeyemi Nafisat,
Founder and Executive Director of Webfala Digital Skills for all Initiative is an advocate for digital inclusion and education for women and girls in Africa.