Increasing Participation/Interest of the Female Gender in Tech: Evidence from Tech4Dev Women Techsters Open Day
— By Olayemi Adigun and Oluwafemi Awopegba
As one of the indices to measure growth and advancement of a country (Nte 2017), technology is fast becoming the most diverse and dynamic industry on which other industries are becoming dependent (Hessert 2017) and its importance cannot be downplayed.
It has profoundly shaped the global and local society, economy, and environment (Anon n.d.) and is also used to address pressing global concerns and achieve development goals (Forum 2020).
Technology is considered the fourth industrial revolution (WEF, PwC 2020), accounting for the largest contribution to the global market (Techmirror 2021; Watters 2018; Merchant Machines 2020), and achieving gender equality, gender parity and maintaining a balanced gender representation in technology is a step in the right direction to maximising human resource for global technological advancement and innovation.
As a background, the global gender population ratio is almost split evenly at 50.42% male to 49.58% female (INED 2020). Despite the even ratio, women are underrepresented in the economic space, particularly in the technology industry. The ratio of men to women in tech is 5 males to 1 female in developed countries (Techjury, 2021) and 8 males to 2 females in developing countries like Nigeria.
Although 74% of females express their desire for a career in STEM, female software engineers have only increased by 2% in the last two decades (Zukerman, 2020), only 37% of tech start-ups have females on board and the technology industry recorded a decline of female employees from 26% in 2017 to 25% in 2020 (Techjury, 2021).
Various statistics and research reveal why gender diversity and female gender representation are important to the technology industry. For example, a report from Nash, (2016) evidenced that the human resource shortage in technology is undermining business performance while proffering the hiring of more women as a solution to the resource gap.
Also, Fortune 500 companies that had at least 3 female executives recorded a 66% return on investment (ROI) (Techjury, 2021, (Montilla n.d.). Evidence shows that more women in technology can directly influence business goals and increase bottom lines of businesses (Morgan Stanley 2016; Anon 2019).
More so, female representation in technology creates opportunities for unique ideas which enables better problem solving that can boost performances (Montilla n.d.; Badal 2014). Further, companies with more gender diversity witnessed a 1.1% return on equity (ROE), and for the past 5 years have outperformed companies with low gender representation (Morgan Stanley 2016).
These numerous statistics reveal that the under-representation of females in the technology ecosystem is an under-utilization of valuable human resources needed to achieve global development vis-a-vis the current industrial revolution wave (technology advancement).
In Africa, technology plays an increasingly significant role in transitioning females into the mainstream global economy (Bright 2016). In Nigeria, technology has been used as an instrument to achieve development goals in other sectors of the society (Megan 2021).
At a yearly growth rate of about 10% over the last decade (Techmirror 2021; Vanguard 2022), ICT is the highest contributor to the national gross domestic product (GDP) (Ramachandran et al. 2019).
International Finance Cooperation (2021) projected about 28.4 million jobs will require technology related skills by 2030 and Silicon Valley has identified Nigeria as an important actor to the technological advancement of Africa (Bright 2016).
Technology inclusion programs — like Tech4Dev’s Women Techsters program — were introduced as a strategy to tackle the female underrepresentation in technology and get more females interested in technology and possibly pursue a career in the technology industry.
This objective is achieved by providing training, digital skills upgrades and more importantly mentorship and female role models in the tech industry. With the introduction of various inclusion programs like the Women Techsters Open Day, there has been an increase in female interest in technology.
The Women Techsters Open Day is a monthly virtual program organized for women across Africa to learn about leveraging the power of technology to start and advance their careers and create technology and technology-enabled businesses.
This program is specially curated for novices in technology, who are encountering tech for the first time. It focuses on exposure and the possible opportunities that exist if women were to take up a career in tech. Leading females in the technology industry are invited to share their experiences and journey to having a successful career in a male-dominated industry.
Since the inception of the Women Techster Open Day in 2021, there has been a steady increase in the number of participants. The Open day recorded 2,271 female participants in the first half of 2021 and 3,764 female participants in total 2021.
In the first half of 2022, the open day recorded 2,716 female participants: a 120% increase in participation from the first half of 2021 and a 72% increase in the participation count achieved from January to December 2021.
This impressive increase in female participation demonstrates the growing female interest in tech. Thus, if given similar opportunities and platforms available to males, arguably, more female representation will be recorded in tech.
Findings reveal that 26% of participants attended the Women Techsters Open Day because they are enthusiastic about technology. This contradicts the historical assumption that females and inherently unable to comprehend technology therefore, technologically incompetent and passive about technology (Wajcman 2010; Bray 2007; Cockburn 1985).
Also, 38% of the participants are females already in the technology industry seeking to advance their tech careers. Programs like the Open Day provide the opportunities to meet female tech mentors who share their growth experiences and useful strategies essential for participants to progress in their careers.
Furthermore, 13% of participants attended the Open Day because they are interested in breaking into the tech industry and 4% are interested in building a tech start-up. Female interest in entrepreneurship is supported by the fact that the success rate of female-led companies is double the failure rate (Gaille 2013).
Also, 19% of the Open Day participants want to study technology-related courses in tertiary education, corroborating these statistics, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report reveals that 22% of technology and engineering graduates are females.
The educational statistics of the participants; 7% of female participants have a diploma certificate, 12% have earned postgraduate degrees and 13% are currently in secondary education, and 67% have completed a bachelor’s degree; arguably alludes to females having more interest in technology but unable pursue a technology degree at the undergraduate level.
The Women Techster Open Day event, therefore, serves as a platform for more females to explore their interest in technology and transition into the technology industry. In the long term this even will make a very impactful contribution to closing the gender gap in the national and continental technology industry.
References
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