By Joyce Remi- Babayeju
As Nigeria observes the 7th UN International Day of Girls and Women in Science, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Helpline Foundation for the Needy based in Abuja has lamented the low percentage of the female gender in science as it
urged governments at all levels to close the gap by providing an enabling environment to encourage the girl- child and women for increased participation in the various fields of science.
Helpline Foundation made this call as it jointly marked the 7th United Nations’ International Day for Girls and Women in science, with the Theme: Equal Access and participation in science for girls in acceleration progress towards national development.”
In a like manner the Foundation called on parents to encourage their girls to study science related subjects, on teachers to devote their time to teaching the girl child more to evoke their interest in science related subjects.
To celebrate the day in the FCT, the NGO, in collaboration with Make a Difference for the Needy Foundation and Association of Wives of Traditional Rulers in FCT, on Friday organised an awareness and interactive session for school girls and women, as part of activities to mark the day in Abuja.
President and founder of the NGO, Dr. Jumai Ahmadu, stressed the need for donor agencies to maintain gender equality and inclusiveness in grants giving and scholarships, so that girls and women can maximize their potentials in science.
Ahmadu, who was represented by Onoja Arome Godwin, Coordinator , Special Programme of the Foundation, pointed out that a significant gender gap has persisted throughout the years at all levels of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines all over the world.
She observed that although women have made tremendous progress towards increasing their participation in higher education, they are still under- represented in the STEM fields.
She said, “A brief rundown of the statistical position of women in research fields of science to mention only four observations women are typically given smaller research grants than their male colleagues and, while they represent 33.3% of all researchers, only 12% of members of natural science academies are women. In cutting edge fields such as artificial intelligence, only one in five professionals (22%) is a woman.”
“Despite a shortage of skills in most of the technological fields driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution, women still account for only 28% of engineering graduates and 40% of graduates in computer science and informatics. Female researchers tend to have shorter, less well- paid careers.”
Furthermore, she explained that girls and women irrespective of how oppressed their situations are, have been participating and contributing to national development from the scientific angles since the beginning of the awareness campaigns.
“However, we cannot reduce this awareness, because we are seeing some little results for as long as we live we must continue to encourage our feminine gender to study science through it rigours and making them know that becoming a scientist does not correlate with gender issues but a ready mind. ”
On our part as a woman led Organisation, we have instituted a programme we call Voice of the girls’ parliament, which has been running for years now to nurture the girl child on all aspects of life, including encouraging them to participate in academics and making choices in science related careers. This program has generated allot of success in the lives of our girls and we hope to do more with your support, she explained.
Daybreak reports that activities to mark the day included event talks on STEM product development and design, graced by a handful of women and hundreds of female students drawn from some public and private schools across the FCT.
