By Christal Clashing
A selection of Antigua’s 3rd formers attended the 2021 celebration of the International Girls in ICT Day held at the Antigua and Barbuda International Institute of Technology (ABIIT) on the 22nd April 2021, which was supported by the Ministry of Education, Sports and Creative Industries. This is the tenth year that the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has run this worldwide event. Every fourth Thursday in April, nations across the globe make a special effort to highlight the need for girls and young women to enter science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This year the event was sponsored by major sponsor, Flow, alongside other tech organisations such as Avada Digital, Project Jaguar and UNOPS Global Innovation Centre, who each supported the breakout sessions in Graphic Design, Robotics, Leadership and Teamwork.
To kick off the event, a cadre of female speakers spoke to the girls not only in the ABIIT auditorium but to those tuned in via Facebook as well. Chaneil Imhoff, of Avada Digital, emphasised that for girls and young women, the parenting environment plays a strong role in the support and encouragement of young women to work within and make contributions to the now male-dominated field of technology. Senator Aziza Lake reminded participants that in the early years of computing, the field was seen as fit for women. So much so that it is through women that contributions like travel to the moon and WiFi are even possible. Shavani Stewart, as the lone female leader of the nation’s robotics club, Redonda Robotics, made it known that stepping out of one’s comfort zone has great rewards.
Technology and digitisation are pathways to today’s wealth creation. Keynote speaker, Marjorie Francis, recalled that as a high school graduate in the late 1980s she sought the financial opportunities available in engineering. She became the first female student at the Antigua State College engineering department. Today, she is an IP and Data Telecoms Technician at Cable and Wireless’s telecommunications company, Flow. Wealth creation through the technological fields is not limited to personal financial gain. Research from the non-profit group, Catalyst, has shown that tech companies with female leadership experience thirty-five per cent more return on equity than all-male leadership. Yet, Aveda IT identifies that only twenty-five per cent of jobs in the tech industry are held by women and they experience as much as a nineteen per cent pay gap. This global gender wealth gap could increase even further if more girls and women do not enter the technological workforce.
For young people, and particularly girls, now is the time to get technologically skilled. UN Women identified that sixty-five per cent of children entering primary school today will have jobs that do not yet exist. These jobs will come in the creation and application of information and communication technologies. The ITU identifies that within the next five years, there will be a shortfall of two million jobs in the ICT sectors. Will Antigua and Barbuda be ready to take advantage of such opportunities? The pandemic has shown us we still have a long way to go in providing reliable internet connection and suitable devices to households with young people for educational purposes. Yet the message from the nation’s women in ICT is clear, seek the opportunities offered by education and career in the STEM industries.
As encouragement for girls and young women to showcase their technological skills, passions and interests, Cable and Wireless will host a video essay competition for female students between the ages of twelve to fifteen, across the region. Participants will be asked to submit a two- to three-minute video on the topic, “Why is it important for girls/women to pursue a career in ICT?” The competition will go live on 26th April with more details to be found on Flow’s website and social media platforms. The winners will be announced at the company’s Girls in ICT Forum on 8th June 2021.
