Innovate: Demonstrate: Elevate: Advance

“Let’s reiterate this fundamental message: women need science, and science needs women. Only by tapping into all sources of knowledge, all sources of talent, can we unlock the full potential of science, and rise to the challenges of our time.”- Audrey Azoulay UNESCO Director-General. While women and girls have made tremendous strides in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) it is still very important to encourage our women to pursue careers in these areas which were traditionally viewed as domains of masculinity and manhood. The fact that the United Nations has sought it necessary to observe February 11 as The International Day for Women and Girls in Science speaks to the structural, legal and historical challenges many women and girls still experience in breaking through the proverbial class ceiling. Unfortunately, such barriers still exist despite the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically goal #4 which addresses inclusive and equitable quality education and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all. The United Nations states, the COVID-19 outbreak has caused a global education crisis. Most education systems in the world have been severely affected by education disruptions and have faced unprecedented challenges. The closure of schools brought on by the pandemic have had devastating consequences for children’s learning and well-being. It is estimated that 147 million children missed more than half of their in-class instruction over the past two years. This generation of children could lose a combined total of $17 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value. The closure of schools have affected girls, children from disadvantaged backgrounds, those living in rural areas, children with disabilities and children from ethnic minorities more than their peers. In many instances a number of girls have become pregnant during the closure of schools due to the pandemic. This has compounded the issue regarding girls continuing their education. In many societies there is entrenched stigma and discrimination regarding teenage pregnancy as a result such girls find it difficult to seek reliable and affordable child-care services which will allow them to return to school after giving birth. In many instances the work of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) that deal with women and girls are important in this regard to scaffold these girls to continue to pursue their dreams. The proportion of young people completing upper secondary school increased from 54 per cent in 2015 to 58 per cent in 2020, with completion slowing down relative to progress in the preceding five-year period. It is too early to predict the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on completion. Early indications from low-income countries based on phone surveys point to a small decline in attendance upon a return to school but a larger increase in repetition, which may increase dropout rates in coming years. Additionally, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #5 speaks to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The United Nations declares, women and girls remain disproportionately affected, struggling with lost jobs and livelihoods, derailed education, increased burdens of unpaid care work and domestic violence. Over 100 million women aged 25-54 years with small children at home were out of the workforce globally in 2020, including the more than 2 million who left the labour force owing to the increased pressures of unpaid care work. Discriminatory laws and legal gaps continue to prevent women from enjoying their human rights. Violence against women and girls is prevalent across countries and affects women of all ages. Working women have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. They accounted for 39.4 per cent of total employment before the pandemic in 2019 but made up nearly 45 per cent of global employment losses in 2020. It is very clear that the barriers which women and girls face daily have prevented access to certain career opportunities across the globe. Fourth Industrial Revolution Data from the United Nations tells of the struggle which women and girls experience. Despite of a shortage of skills in most of the technological fields driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution, women still account for only 28% of engineering graduates and 40% of graduates in computer science and informatics. This important day is implemented by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UN-Women, in collaboration with various institutions and civil society partners that aim to promote women and girls in science. The theme this year is Innovate. Demonstrate. Elevate. Advance. This Day is an opportunity to promote full and equal access to, and participation in science for women and girls. According to the United Nations gender equality is a global priority for UNESCO and the support of young girls, their education and their full ability to make their ideas heard are levers for development and peace. This year, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (IDWGIS) will focus on the role of Women and Girls and Science as it relates to the Sustainable Development Goals. The IDWGIS aims to connect the International Community to Women and Girls in Science, strengthening the ties between science, policy, and society for strategies oriented towards the future. Although Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields are widely regarded as critical to national economies, so far most countries, no matter their level of development, have not achieved gender equality in STEM. As the international community observes The International Day for Women and Girls in Science we must show solidarity to the women of Afghanistan who have been barred from accessing an education by an all-male government. The international community must continue to engage and pressure the Taliban regime in order for the government to reverse this order which prevents girls from age 12 from attending school. The UN adds, that women are typically given smaller research grants than their male colleagues and, while they represent 33.3% of all researchers, only 12% of members of national science academies are women. In advanced technology fields such as artificial intelligence, only one in five professionals (22%) is a woman. Female researchers tend to have shorter, less well-paid careers. Their work is underrepresented in high-profile journals and they are often passed over for promotion. Gender-Responsive Policies It is clear that in order to ensure that women and girls have equal access to the areas of Science, governments must be deliberate in their planning. Government across the globe needs to pursue gender-responsive policies in order to facilitate the equal access of both sexes to scare resources. Gender-responsive strategies and policies incorporate the experiences and needs of women and girls and address the underlying causes of vulnerability including gender inequality, gender relationships, power structures, social norms, and leadership. Gender responsive policies and programmes should reflect girls’ and women’s realities and needs. Gender responsiveness means paying attention to the unique needs of females, valuing their perspectives, respecting their experiences, understanding the development differences between girls and boys, men and women and eventually facilitating a culture which empowers girls and women. It is clear that much more work is required not only at the national level, but also at the community level whereby women and girls can see themselves in leadership roles making the necessary changes to bring about the strategic changes through gender-mainstreaming of policies and programmes. The United Nations Economic and Social Council defines gender mainstreaming as a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the policies and programmes in all political, economic and social spheres so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not perpetuated. Gender mainstreaming is deliberate, calculated and cannot be left to chance. Gender mainstreaming cannot be achieved without the use of sex-disaggregated data which is critical in driving the intervention required to scaffold women and girls who are oftentimes left behind. Regrettably, the perspective of gender is often an afterthought and added on later in the design and implementation of our policies and programmes. As a global community we need to change this mindset and attitude so as to fully incorporate women and girls in careers in science and economic development. In the words of Sima Bahous, change for girls in science requires a paradigm shift, a commitment to long-term, sustainable programmes, and initiatives that acknowledge structural barriers and work to remove them. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo © #WomenInScience #STEM #InnovateDemonstrateElevateAdvance