ICT Day 2020 Essay Competition Update: Gender Gap in STEM Portends a Stark Danger for Africa's Development



To celebrate International Girls in ICT Day 2020 on 23rd of April, InspireIT organized an essay competition with the theme "Culture and Gender Disparity in STEM Fields: The African Context."



The winner, Ogbaga Sunday, is a student at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.  Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) is a federal government research university in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria.



He wrote on how the gender gap in STEM portends a stark danger for Africa's development.



Below is his essay:



Culture and Gender Disparity in STEM: The African Context



There is no gainsaying that gender disparity is perceptibly deep-seated in African Cultures. From time immemorial, there has been a patriarchal ideology of gender identity, and the subsequent creation of stereotypes, unwritten codes, and orientations that harbour them. Although since the dawn of civilization, the wind of constitutions and treaties has swept away many human right abuses; however, the novel truth is that gender disparity still pervades the psyche of many African societies till date. Whereas women are specifically relegated to childbearing, child-raising, homemaking and similar chores; more important areas of human endeavour like leadership and administration, science, engineering, technology and defence are dominated by men. This leaves no questioning why there is an acute shortage of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professions in Africa. According to UNESCO (cited in African Development Bank, 2020), only 30% of researchers in Sub-Saharan Africa are women, with gender gap especially apparent in disciplines such as Mathematics, engineering, and computer science.



This poor scorecard is a ticking bomb in disguise and portends a stark danger for Africa’s development. Today, the phase of the Third Industrial Revolution is gradually fading out. The way we interact, work, produce and transact has been practically overturned by the increasing ubiquity of disruptive tech innovations such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, Automation, humanoid robotics, 3-D printing among other STEM forces.



Consequently, there is no gainsaying that we are on the cusp of a Fourth Industrial Revolution (industry 4.0)—“a new phase in the Industrial Revolution that will offer a more sophisticated, comprehensive, interlinked, and holistic approach to human activities” (Epicor, 2018). As aptly buttressed by World Economic Forum (2017a), industry 4.0 will affect all sectors and disciplines, bringing about a structural transformation and significantly shift business models in all sectors, increasing the pace of change in job destruction and job creation— including new forms of work—as well as skills churn within the STEM professions. In the same 2 pedestal, the African Development Bank (2020), estimates that the fourth industrial revolution will present a total gain of two million jobs in STEM-related fields (that women are particularly at risk of losing out) and a loss of 4.7 million jobs concentrated in routine white-collar office functions, such as office and administrative roles (predominantly held by women).



Where do we go from here?



Inferring from the above analysis, it is crystal clear that those who will make the highest chunk of opportunities are people that are skilled in STEM fields. Hence, without putting adequate measures in place to ensure the influx of women into STEM professions, Africa will suffer in no small measure.



Consequently, the following recommendations are preferred:



1. Let every African nation develop a National Action Plan (NAP) towards increasing the number of women in STEM: Given the heterogeneity of the African societies, African nations should develop a peculiar National Action Plan (NAP) capable of addressing every cultural and institutional hurdle that makes it cumbersome for girl/women to pursue a career in STEM.



2. Increase girl child education: In Africa, the education of the girl-child is treated with leniency which has exacerbated the acute under-representation of women in STEM. Hence, parents should always enroll their female wards in School. The government and civil societies should facilitate this by increasing the number of scholarships available for African young girls.



3. Campaign against Phobia for STEM professions: Due to Patriarchal notions, a lot of girls have succumbed to the fallacy that professions such as Engineering, Science and Technology are exclusively for men. Like a popular maxim said: “Education is the foundation of freedom. Ignorance is the basis of slavery. If you would free a people, first and foremost, educate them.” There is a need to launch formidable campaigns at local, national and continental levels to educate and encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM.



 Conclusion



Women constitute more than half of African population. With the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution and the abysmal under-representation of women in STEM, Africa may plunge more into poverty and underdevelopment. Therefore, all hands should be on deck to efface every negative cultural and institutional practices that barricade our womenfolk from venturing and pursuing careers in STEM.



 

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