Women professionals urge female students to embrace science courses

DISTURBED by the seeming dearth of interest by female students in embracing science-based studies in Nigeria, the President, Association of Professional Women Engineers in Nigeria (APWEN), Mrs Felicia Agubata, last week, urged a change of attitude by the female folks, stating that future is bright for those who pick interest in science disciplines.

Speaking at an event organised by Mrs Bosede Oyekunle, a member and financial secretary of APWEN to mark her 40th birthday anniversary, Agubata who spoke on the topic: “Encourage and Enhance a Girl Child in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: Leadership and Communication’’,was of the view that women were naturally made with multi-tasking and they could easily adapt to using engineering to solve major problems confronting the nation, and that STEM had the answer to the industrialisation aspiration of Nigeria.

“Be yourself, don’t try to be someone else. You carry great potentials that you can actualise through the rigour of engineering courses to industrialise the country,” she advised.

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According to the APWEN president, less than 13 per cent of women study sciences globally while in Nigeria, less than 11 per cent embrace science-based courses.

However, she counselled female students to focus more on science subjects, because to her, it is more rewarding to encourage the girl-child to study engineering “because engineers are the ones that provide solutions.

“Now there is an advocacy to encourage, nhance and excite the girl child into STEM,’’ she said.

Agubata said that women were more detailed and diligent in their duties and with the right mentoring would be better nation builders hence the passion of APWEN to grow the STEM initiative in the girl-child.

She commended the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Christopher Ogbonnaya Onu and the president of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) for taking positive steps toward improvement of STEM education in Nigeria.