As the United Nation marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science,
celebrating the theme, ‘Investment in Women and Girls in Science for Inclusive Green Growth, the Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR) has called for more involvement of women and girls in science to continue to expand the frontiers of scientific discovery.
Speaking to news, the Executive Director of CCIDESOR, Ogechi Ikeh noted that as the world changes the gear of discovery to solve the numerous emerging problems of mankind, there is a great need for women and girls to join the fast moving train to enable them capture the peculiarities of the female folks.
The Day focuses on the reality that science and gender equality are both vital for the achievement of internationally agreed Sustainable Development Goals SDGs 2030. However, long-standing biases and gender stereotypes are steering girls and women away from science related fields.
According to data from the UN Scientific Education and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), fewer than 30% of researchers worldwide are women and approximately 30% have of all female students select STEM-related fields in higher education.
Globally, female students’ enrollment is particularly low in ICT (3%), natural science, mathematics and statistics (5%), and engineering, manufacturing and construction (8%). In order to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, parents should encourage their female wards alongside the male to embrace dynamism in the discovery world of Science and technology.
The ED also appealed to government to establish and equip ICT centres to help achieve this and close the needed gaps of development.
