by Grace Anaja
The Institut français du Nigéria in commemoration of the International Women’s Day held a Breakfast Debate, Short Films Screening and Exhibition on Friday 10th March, 2023. The event was attended by civil society organizations, private organizations, educators, Secondary School girls and youths.
The opening remarks were given by the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Emmanuelle Blatmann. She appreciated all the participants, especially the young school girls from secondary schools for attending. The focus of the event was to showcase the innovations and contributions of women in science. They have made a difference and too often, no one knows about them. Women have achieved a lot and won awards. Nevertheless, men are more recognised than women. We must make them known to encourage young girls to engage in STEM. There are no sectors that are gender exclusive. Evidently, sometimes the glass ceiling is in the mind.
The round table session was moderated by Carolyn Seaman, President of the Nigeria TechWomen Alumni Association with the topic ‘To What extent Can Women in STEM Break the Glass Ceiling?‘. Among the panelists were Chioma Agwuegbo, Executive Director, TechHer and Oluwabunmi Borokini. Here are some of our takeaways.
There must first be access before the conversation about innovation begins which is why the biggest challenge is access.
In Nigeria, out of the over 10 million out of school children, 65% are girls. Girl child education is not a priority as social norms, gender roles and stereotypes influence this. From childhood, the kind of toys given to girls and boys influence their choices. In the home front, the girl is expected to be domesticated and do the chores. She is raised and prepared for marriage. It is no wonder that cultural and religious beliefs affect the gender gaps in STEM.
Laws are powerful and having the right laws and the political will to ensure that they are implemented is a great start. If there is a law that all children must go to school and the political will to implement it, children will go to school. Another thing that is lacking is a vision and strategy from the government. There is also the lack of partnership between the government and the private sector and civil societies.
Women in technology sometimes hide who they are or what they do when they are with their male counterparts. Women in STEM should be free to explore and push their work forward. Furthermore, with opportunities and the pay gap, women sometimes downplay their value. Women must begin to place value on themselves and the work they do. In certain organizations, most of the board members are men who, though educated, are biased and make decisions based on cultural beliefs. The approach of laws and consequences should be adopted to ensure that more women are included and employed in organizations. A strong step is to ensure transparency in pay as job applications are put out to the public.
In closing the gaps around visibility, the media must present women in a better light. A reorientation on spotlighting women needs to happen and conversations should focus on the work women do, and not on the existing gender norms or stereotypes. We need to call out these stereotypes and carry out a re-socialization in communicating women’s contributions and achievements.
Civil societies need to create safe spaces for school girls, especially those who are being abused, and more opportunities for those in rural areas to learn and pursue careers in STEM as they have limited access to digital tools.
Private organizations can also create pipelines for people to learn and fund learning and mentorship programs, and build a community to encourage and support women and girls.
After the panel session was an interesting Short Films Screening and these short films were aimed at telling the stories of inspiring women who have broken through the glass ceiling to enter the often male dominated world of science and technology. The screening was followed by the exhibition opening titled Women in Science from Yesterday to Today which was produced by the French association, AFNEUS. The exhibition had portraits of French and African women scientists who have all made progress in research during their careers, with varying degrees of recognition, women such as Alice Recoque (1929-2021, Computer Science), Wangari Mutha Maathai (1940-2011, Biology), Tebello Nyokong (1951-Today, Chemistry), Sébastienne Guyot (1896-1941, Astrophysics), Francine Ntoumi (1961-Today, Biology), Ekanem Ikpi Braide (1946-Today, Biology, Parasitology) and Irène Joliot-Curie (1897-1956, Physics, Chemistry).
The event was part of the organization’s feminist policy efforts toward empowering women. We hope to see these lessons replicated in the lives of women, girls and every individual within the STEM space and beyond.
Featured image credit: Prostooleh on Freepik
