•Women Senators have lamented that many women and girls continue to be excluded from participating fully in science education and careers.
•The United Nations Institute of Statistics, on the other hand, also states that there is less than 30 per cent of the world’s researchers are women.
Image: FILE
Women senators have lamented that many women and girls continue to be excluded from participating fully in science education and careers.
Led by Nominated Senators Alice Milgo, Agnes Zani and Getrude Musuruve, the lawmakers lamented that girls’ participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in primary, secondary schools and University is still lower than that of boys.
They attributed many factors that influence girls’ diminishing participation in science, including biases, social norms and a false belief among girls that science-related subjects are more suited for boys.
They cited a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report titled, “Cracking the Code: Girls and Women Education in STEM”, there are only 35 per cent of STEM students in higher education globally are women.
The United Nations Institute of Statistics, on the other hand, also states that there is less than 30 per cent of the world’s researchers are women.
“Numerous studies have found that women in STEM fields publish less, are paid less for their research and do not progress as far as men in their careers,” Senator Milgo, who chairs the Senate Committee on Education and Research on Thursday told the House.
To increase girls’ participation in STEM-related courses in secondary schools and higher levels of education, the legislators have asked stakeholders to weed out conscious and unconscious biases, social norms and cultural expectations which are complex reasons why girls and women are under-represented in STEM subjects and fields.
“This frequently influence the type and quality of education girl learners receive and the choices offered to them,” Milgo added.
She said it is important to have diversity represented in STEM, and not just for the sake of numbers.
The Senator held when women are pushed out of careers in STEM by systems of bias, it influences the products and services that STEM organizations create hence Artificial Intelligence (AI) or machine learning bias is a recognized concern for organizations developing products and services using this technology.
Only about 26 per cent of AI professionals globally are female, according to the 2020 World Economic Forum report on the Global Gender Gap, which also found that current trajectories mean sub-Saharan Africa will only close its gender gap in 95 years, adding that it is another reason why the nation must pay attention to investing in women’s STEM development.
“It is vital that we engage with girls at primary and secondary school levels to raise the visibility of STEM subjects as a potential career trajectory,” she said.
She suggested girls to collaborate in the DigiGirlz programme, which inspires high school girls to pursue STEM subjects by providing them with the opportunity to interact with Microsoft employees and receive computer and technology training.
Each year, Microsoft hosts DigiGirlz Day across the world, including in the Middle East and Africa. During this pandemic, these events will be virtual, allowing girls from Kenya, Rwanda, Canada and the US to engage in the first International Virtual Microsoft DigiGirlz Panel and Bootcamp.
“We must, therefore, encourage Kenyan parents to register their girls to participate in such events so as to motivate our girls regarding this very important subject,” he held reiterating that empowering girls and women to enter STEM fields of study and careers, and stay the course, is an imperative.
Senator Agnes Zani said with more occupations that are growing are from STEM at almost 17 per cent while other growth is taking place at 9.8 per cent encouraging more students to be more involved in STEM.
“Training for girls is important because it will increase their science literacy and enable the new generation to be innovators,” Zani, insisting that the world is moving towards innovation and better ways of solving problems.
“The world is moving towards environmental challenges and climate change that need to be solved in different ways,” she added.
Musuruve asked the government to look for ways of encouraging girls to get into STEM subjects.
Some years back, Musuruve said there were some subjects that were predominantly meant for girls and others for males because of perception.
“It is possible for us to change this perception so that girls are also encouraged to pursue STEM courses,” she said.
“One of the ways of doing this is for the Government to encourage and even come up with scholarships for girls who excel in STEM then they can get scholarships,” she added.
Even after getting scholarships, the Senator held they can have an exit after training so that they get employment.
“This can encourage girls to pursue STEM subjects. Those who are sponsored can even become mentors of others,” she said, adding that it is possible for the narrative to change so that girls take subjects that were predominantly not meant for them…