On Wednesday, 8th of March, 2023, the Cowrywise Ambassadors community held a virtual event to celebrate International Women’s Day. The event was divided into 4 sessions and led by 4 amazing women from the ambassadors’ community, Bernice Aileru, Paula Asinobi, Mofopefoluwa Adufuye, and Ruby Ihekweme. They shared insightful and inspiring stories about women in tech and steps on how to break ground in the tech space as a woman. Here is a summary of their sessions for you in case you missed it.
Session led by Bernice Aileru, Campus Lead, Bowen University
Bernice started the session by talking about innovation and technology and how women can harness their potential by being involved. She emphasized the importance of showing up and doing the little things. Innovation doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking or cause you to start a startup. Finding ways to proffer solutions for everyday problems is one way to break ground in the tech space and ensure equality. In the words of Bernice, “Women, stop looking for innovation, you are the innovation”.
Session led by Paula Asinobi, Campus Lead, Babcock University
Paula highlighted some gender biases women face in the workplace giving a personal example of getting paid less by an employer because of her gender. She talked about gender equality and inequality. According to the statistics she mentioned, “UNESCO’s report shows that only 35% of women engage in STEM courses and further reports show that only 26.7% of women hold tech jobs in 2022.”
She went further to highlight education, participation, and promoting participation as some ways to improve gender equality in the tech space.
Some technological innovations to foster gender equality include;
- Using Social Media platforms to sensitize people on the need for gender equality.
- Holding campaigns in various companies.
- Building structures and brands that equip and showcase women with skills for the tech space.
She concluded by saying that “the goal is to create a balance in our world. It is not a man’s world, it is a human’s world. We are setting the pace for an all-inclusive space for generations of women to come where they will feel safe and valued. We can and we are changing the narrative sector by sector.”
Session by Mofopefoluwa Adefuye, Campus Lead, Covenant University
Mofopefoluwa started her session by giving brief statistics about the gender gap in the tech space with about 19% STEM graduates.
She explained that women are the best people to provide solutions to problems peculiar to women. Women in tech also improve the workspace culture and safety and create opportunities for other women to have access to role models and mentors.
She encouraged women to know their interests and pursue them and she highlighted some ways to go about them;
- Do your research
- Ask questions
- Don’t stop learning
- Be ready to pay the price.
- Volunteer
- Educate others
Mofopefoluwa emphasized the importance of offering value and providing solutions as you cannot give what you don’t have.
You don’t need to know how to code to be a tech sis.
Session by Ruby Ihekweme, Co-lead, Data team, Ambassadors’ Community
Building on the tempo of the other speakers, Ruby talked about ways to get into tech. She encouraged ladies to access opportunities in the tech community and not to be limited by all the stereotypes and biases that are currently in place. She talked about doing research and building on what you have learned.
Conclusion
Celebrating women goes beyond International Women’s Day. We are committed to creating an environment for women to strive in whatever space they find themselves. We are not just proud to celebrate all women in our campus ambassadors community, we are proud of the great strides they are making in their various schools and communities.
Join a community of over 10,000 like-minded young people on various campuses across Nigeria as a Cowrywise campus ambassador.
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