By Eric Appah Marfo
Accra, Oct. 20, GNA—Mrs Olayinka Naa Dzama Wilson-Kofi, President of Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) West Africa Affiliate, has called for the establishment of funding schemes to support women in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) field.
She said such funding opportunities would help females seeking to venture into the field get the needed support and motivation to pursue their dreams.
That, she said, would eventually scale up the number of females in the industry.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, she recounted the struggles, particularly financial constraints, she had to face in the pursuit of her academic dreams.
“My dad had to take a loan to support me. At some point, I also took a bank loan to enable me go to school. I don’t regret it because I’m reaping the benefits, but what happens to those who are not able to take a loan?”
“If we can have an educational initiative, like grants, scholarships, established for women pursuing not just cybersecurity, but STEM as a whole, it would really elevate them beyond barriers,”she said.
An article by WomenTech Network titled, “Women in Tech Stats 2024: Uncovering Trends and Unseen Data”, said only 47.7 per cent less, than half of working-age women were participating in the global workforce, and in some countries, the figure was even lower.
This means that for every two men employed, there is only one woman. In addition to this, women earn less money than their male counterparts and are more likely to experience gender-based discrimination.
Globally, women hold only 28 per cent of tech jobs, with a mere five per cent occupying leadership roles. Women of colour are significantly underrepresented, with Black women accounting for only 0.7 per cent of all IT roles, according to Generation Ghana, a global nonprofit network that supports people to achieve economic mobility and a better life.
According to a 2022 data from the World Bank, women make up about 17.57 percent of the Tech workforce in Ghana. This percentage represents female employment in the industry sector, including mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, and public utilities.
Mrs Wilson-Kofi suggested partnerships between Government and Technology training institutions to organise boot camps to provide hands-on training for women in the tech industry.
She said such events should also include mentoring opportunities where well-known mentors could adopt those females for grooming.
Mrs Wilson-Kofi urged universities to incorporate more hands-on training to their curriculum by allowing the students to have an industry experience and sharpen their skills before completing school.
She lauded the Cybersecurity Authority for the intensified advocacy and awareness creation to garner support for women in the tech industry.
Mrs Wilson-Kofi advised parents to support their female children who had interest in STEM education and also monitor their children in the use of the internet.
“Some parents don’t know how to regulate their children using the internet. They just give their phones to their kids and that is it, they don’t even care what they are watching.
“And these kids are smart, they go to places, they watch things, and we need to set a screen time. They shouldn’t be on the phone all the time,” she advised.
GNA