World Majlis
Changemake(H)er: Advancing Diversity in the Tech World
History has shown numerous examples of female science superstars. We owe the world’s first computer programme to Great Britain’s Ada Lovelace, in 1843; Marie Curie was the first person to be awarded two science-related Nobel Prizes while 33 years later, her own daughter Irène Joliot-Curie became a Nobel laureate herself. By 1960, according to government statistics, more than one in four US programmers were women.
However, only 35% of students in the areas of science and tech today in higher education worldwide are women – that percentage falls below 10% in areas such as information technology and engineering. Less than 40% of the current global STEM workforce is female and the ratio deteriorates in engineering and tech jobs.
Despite many initiatives to encourage girls to choose these subjects at school – and women to pursue careers in science and tech sectors – progress has been slow.
On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, let’s explore how encouraging more women and girls to take their legitimate place in science, tech, engineering, and mathematics is not only possible but also for the greater good of us all.
