When it comes to participation in technology, women are often relegated to the background, but this should not be. As the world celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8, 2023, MTN Nigeria hosted a Twitter Space session to discuss the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality”, to encourage more women participation in tech.
Here are four things to learn from the session:
- Create a pipeline: To encourage more female representation in tech, it is important to catch them young, and introduce them to the simple aspects of technology. By doing so, a funnel for intending female tech enthusiasts is created.
- Tech Education: whether formal or informal, the creation and introduction of more tech-related curriculums at different learning institutions, especially primary schools, will give access to everyone, not just women to participate in tech learning.
- Exposure: early exposure to tech will not only breed familiarity, but confidence in the use of technology. Here, parents have a role to play by debunking negative belief systems about women’s involvement in tech.
- Employability : with Nigeria’s unemployment rate currently projected to hit 37%, the availability of non-discriminatory tech jobs for women will create opportunities for hands-on-experience. This would in turn lead to a higher demand in tech education by women.
It is important to recognise that achieving gender equality in tech is a long-term goal that requires sustained effort and commitment from individuals, organisations, and society at large.
MTN remains committed to bridging the digital divide in Nigeria and fostering technological inclusion in Africa.