Last year, I taught a leadership program for young students at the SIAS University in Henan Province in China. The World Academy for Future Women (WAFW) sponsors the program; 90% of students are young women aged 18-23. You can find here and here the detailed program and feedback from students
I noticed that less than 1% of my students were interested in or studying technological fields. The percentage is surprisingly low compared to other areas, such as education, healthcare, and business.
According to a study published by European Union, only 17% of people working in technological fields are women, especially in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) area.
There are still invisible barriers and glass ceilings that discourage women from studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at university. Despite the efforts made in elementary schools, high schools, and universities, little progress that been made if we look at the past few years.
We know that technology is growing rapidly and steadily. It is creating and will continue to develop numerous jobs for people with technological profiles in areas such as AI, data analytics, robotics, etc. The inadequate presence of women in technology does not just represent less opportunity but also society as a whole.
Historically, technology-related jobs have always been linked with machines, labour-intensive and consequently, making them potentially less attractive for women. However, today’s technology is associated with computers, data analytics, and intelligent systems. All these areas need more women who, on equal terms with men, are sensible and creative and assist in finding solutions to the biggest challenges of our times.
Greater diversity at work would provide a global and more accurate view of our society’s significant challenges. It helps us better understand and effectively respond to the problems of the world in which we live; we need an equal social system in which men and women can be visible in all areas, especially in the technological sector.
If young women are not encouraged and left out, the gender gap continues to grow; it will be harder for us to address and overcome issues relating to economic and social problems.
We should expect and encourage more women to be interested in technology. Together, men and women develop unbiased recommendations for our society, machine-assisted senior care, intelligent healthcare systems, digital cities, and co-existing human and artificial intelligence. The proposals would address the significant challenges and solutions, that is, ethics and humanity.