By Chiazo Ogbolu,
In the past, the woman was believed to be only for childbearing, home-keeping and farming.
The girl-child was given little or no opportunities of education and leadership. This resulted in low esteem.
In this age of technology, women, however, are enjoying improved education opportunities.
But, in spite of improvement in the education opportunities of the girl-child in the contemporary society, her access to and use of Information and Communication and Technology (ICT) remains a huge challenge.
Cultural factors, gender discrimination, lack of confidence, language barrier and low literacy, lack of time, money and safety have prevented women from taking advantage of ICT.
Analysts have observed that men and boys dominate the available ICT space, criticising or ridiculing women and girls who venture into the domain, thereby, making them feel inferior.
There are also worries that without access to ICT, women may be left behind in leadership and other critical areas in a rapidly changing world.
An educationist, Mrs Jenny Okpara, believes that increased girl-child enrolment and equal science and technical education opportunities will close the gender gap in technology.
According to her, gender gap in ICT begins in homes and schools where careers in telecommunications, construction, engineering and mining are not directly offered to girls.
Prof. Charles Uwadia, a former President, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), is of the opinion that a change in ICT demography of the nation is overdue.
“If you train a woman, you have trained a community, even a nation.
“To make that change, there is the need to get to the drawing board in different levels of engagement, including the home because career engagement starts from the home,’’ he argues.
He calls for increase in girl-child’s access to technology education and ICT facilities.
“Designing technology in a way that prioritises women’s values increases the likelihood that they will get connected; stays connected and use that connection to benefit their lives.
“Organisations also ought to empower women who work in technology to work together as a whole in order to address the gender gap in technology around the world,’’ he says.
Mrs Felicia Oyeyinka, the Lagos State Coordinator, Nigeria Women in Information Technology (NiWIIT), an NGO, is also convinced that early training of girls in ICT will bridge the gender gap in the industry.
Oyeyinka believes that such training will give girls a better future.
“In today’s world, women participation in programming, software development and anything that has to do with computer is very scanty.
“The world is going cloud computing; a time is coming for everybody everywhere when everything in the house will be controlled remotely.
“If our girls are given the opportunity from an early age, this gender disparity will no longer be there,’’ she says.
According to Oyeyinka, the NGO is committed to encouraging girls to make a career in ICT.
“In other climes, children are taught robotics programming at an early stage so they will have interest in computer science; this is what we intend doing here.
“NiWIIT has embarked on a talent hunt where girls in schools, who want to go into sciences, especially computer science, are trained and encouraged.
“The training will be quarterly, with participants deployed to various schools for that purpose.
“I appeal to governments and philanthropists to come to our aid because the project will be big and capital intensive.’’
She is optimistic that when girls are developed in technology, they will take advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities embedded in ICT.
Also, Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) calls for the use of ICT, including the social media in sensitising women to position themselves for leadership.
Mrs Oreoluwa Lesi, the W.TEC Executive Director, says the centre will do its best to close gender gap in technology and get more girls interested in ICT.
According to her, W.TEC is training girls in both the Girls Technology Camp and the W.TEC Academy both in Lagos, in an effort to make girls efficient in application of technology.
“They are trained on computer, how to create and develop technology, digital animation, programming, graphic design and video production; they also undergo career counselling,’’ Lesi says.
The W.TEC director adds that the centre monitors the trainees through phone calls, work, interviews and impact stories published on the organisation’s website.
Lesi expresses satisfaction that the impact made by W.TEC over the years has made many girls to choose science-based professions.
“Some others have helped in building their parents’ businesses.’’
She advises women to stop giving excuses but pursue excellence in everything they do.
She promises that W.TEC will continue to deepen its partnerships so that its impact can be multiplied across the nation and the entire Africa.
According to Dr Ajibike Itegboje, Chief Lecturer, Computer Science Department, Yaba College of Technology, research has shown that a balanced gender team improves business performance.
Itegboje notes that the world economy is being driven by technology which guarantees longer-term gains in productivity and leads to demand for knowledge.
She warns that employability is not guaranteed by ICT degrees but expertise.
“Many degrees do not count but the expertise one has is what will fetch the needed knowledge economy.’’
The lecturer urges the 21st-century ICT professionals to have sound understanding of technology and develop high-level business management and communication skills.
It is expected that the family, governments and non-governmental organisations as well as women themselves will play their appropriate roles to bridge the gender gap in ICT.