Girls urged to stay ICT course
FAYVAL Williams is calling for more women to get involved in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.
“We need more women in technology,” the minister of science, energy and technology said while speaking at a Caribbean.Girls.Hack – 2019 Hackathon event at the Chinese Benevolent Association in St Andrew two Tuesdays ago.
Caribbean. Girls. Hack is a series of regional events run by SheLeadsIT in observance of International Girls in ICT Day.
“I believe that our girls and women have tremendous knowledge that, when harnessed, can contribute to building a strong technology infrastructure for Jamaica,” she said.
Williams highlighted that, while there is not a significant difference in the ratio of boys to girls who sit the information technology exam at the secondary level, there is much greater disparity at the tertiary level.
“While women outnumber men in our universities, men are outnumbering women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics field,” she lamented. “A three-to-one male-to-female ratio [in STEM] is evident at four of our leading tertiary institutions at the undergraduate level. This is based on data for the academic years 2013 to 2018 from the University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica; The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus; Northern Caribbean University (NCU); and the Vocational Training Development Institute.
“Today I encourage you, ladies, to get involved in innovation by enrolling more in ICT disciplines, especially at the tertiary level, and stay the course after your academic pursuits,” she charged. “We need more women in technology, and that’s a refrain that I’m sure you are going to hear over and over again as we work to build a knowledge-based and digitally inclusive society,” the minister said.
Canadian High Commissioner to Jamaica Laurie Peters presented SheLeadsIT co-founders Nicole Pitter-Patterson and Bridget Lewis with the Faces for Equality award, for contribution to the empowerment of girls and women. She, too, shared the technology minister’s sentiments.
“Despite the numerous advances in both of our countries to increase the proportion of women in traditionally male-dominated fields such as medicine and law, we are still seeing a really large gap and an untapped pool of talent when it comes to information and communication technology,” Peters bemoaned. “Today’s hackathon is a perfect example of how the culture and mindset are shifting, and how young women like you can harness technology to innovate for change in Jamaica and the Caribbean.”
The hackathon was attended by more than 300 Jamaican girls from more than 20 high schools and tertiary institutions. The girls were treated to a question-and-answer session with Facebook account manager and diversity activist Ejeb Dema, who emphasised that not only do girls benefit from information technology (IT), but that IT development suffers when women are not involved. Dema encouraged the girls to “speak up and take part”.
Pitter-Patterson, who chaired the day’s activities, noted that “Caribbean.Girls.Hack is rapidly becoming a fixture in the Jamaican landscape, and we are really excited to see the continuing support from both the private sector and the tech community. Leaders and experts have contributed their resources, time, and expertise, and it means the world to the girls”.
Supported by mentors and judges from the ICT sector, the teams of girls and women, aged 13-21, raced against the clock to create technology-based solutions to the issues of gender-based violence and climate change.
The High School Division winners were St Elizabeth Technical High School, St Andrew’s High School for Girls, and the Immaculate Conception High School, in first to third place, respectively. The young women from UTech were first in the university category, followed by NCU and The UWI. The winning teams received cash prizes, gadgets and scholarships to tech camps.
Over the coming weeks, the hackathon will be replicated across St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados.
— Candiece Knight
