International Day of Women & Girls in Science 11th February 2022: Women in technology.

On The 11^th Feb 2022, we recognise the International Day of Women & Girls in Science & contemplate some of the hurdles women in STEM continue to face in a predominantly male dominated environment.

Women still account for only 28% of engineering graduates & 40% of graduates in computer science & informatics, according to a UNESCO Science Report (1)

“Even today, in the 21st century, women and girls are being sidelined in science-related fields due to their gender. Women need to know that they have a place in science, technology, engineering & mathematics, & that they have a right to share in scientific progress.” Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General (1)

Despite the gender bias faced by women in STEM, there are still hundreds of thousands of women & girls who have made & continue to make an enormous impact on communities around the world through their scientific expertise & knowledge.

Here are a few of their stories.

Afghan Girls Robotic Team

The Afghan Girls Robotic Team known as the Afghan Dreamers, was founded in 2017 by Roya Mahboob & made up of girls between ages 12 & 18 and their mentors. Roya Mahboob founded the Digital Citizen Fund (DCF) which enabled 6 of the girls to travel to the USA to take part in the FIRST international Global Challenge robotics competition.

Over the years, the Afghan Girls Robotic Team have built a variety of devices to serve others & solve problems in their communities. These include a wheelchair controlled by eye movement, a drone & a metal detector robot.

When the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, the team quickly set to work building a ventilator out of car parts, then a robot that could sanitize surfaces using UVC light. (2)

In August 2021 when the US withdrew from Afghanistan, millions of women & girls feared that their freedoms would be removed & this included girls & women’s rights to education & to work in Science & Engineering.

The Afghan Dreamers made the difficult decision to leave their home country, families, friends, & previous robotics work all behind. They struggled for several days to make it out of Afghanistan, until they were finally able to do so with the help of the Qatari government. (2)

“I believe strongly that as a key to our future is the children we are teaching today,” By allowing these young women the opportunity, we actually give them a chance to change the lives of themselves, and their children, and women throughout Afghanistan. And they are proving that they can be the master of their own destiny and the future.” (2) Roya Mahboob, founder & organizer of the Afghan Girls Robotic Team.

Alaina Percival, Founder of Women Who Code

Alaina co-founded Women Who Code (WWCode) in 2013. Women Who code is an international nonprofit which is dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers, boosting women’s skills & confidence & enabling them to excel.

As the CEO, Board Member & angel investor, Alaina recognises that women are perpetually underrepresented in the tech sectors.

“While the lack of women in technology is a top-of-mind discussion in the U.S., it is a global issue. As someone who has EU citizenship and worked/lived in over 80 countries, I have seen this first-hand. I am proud to say that WWCode has a global reach and is expanding every day to give diverse women the skills and community we need to grow our impact in tech.” Alaina Percival, LinkedIn

Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE – Co-Founder and CEO of Stemettes

Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon became the youngest girl to pass two GCSE exams. Aged just 10 years old, Dr Imafidon passed Mathematics & ICT GCSE & just a year later became the the youngest girl to pass A-Level Computing.

Attaining a Master’s degree in Mathematics & Computer Science from the University of Oxford aged just 20 years old, Dr Imafidon was subsequently awarded an MBE in 2017 at the age of 27 for services to young women STEM sectors, making her the youngest scientist to be bestowed the accolade since 1890.

With her wealth of knowledge & experience, Dr Imafidon co-founded Stemettes, an award-winning social initiative dedicated to inspiring & promoting the next generation of young women in the STEM sectors.

Since its inception, Stemettes has exposed almost 60,000 young people across Europe to Anne-Marie’s vision for a more diverse & balanced science and tech community. (3)

Kathryn Parsons MBE – Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Decoded

Kathryn Parsons founded Decoded in 2011 with a credit card & a mission to teach anyone Code in a Day. Driven by a personal desire to learn & Kathryn sought to remove the fear, jargon & cliches which makes technology impenetrable to many. (4)

Kathryn campaigned for coding as mandatory on the UK National Curriculum & it was successfully introduced in 2014, making the UK one of the first countries in the world to do so. This means that by 2025, a generation will leave school for whom computational thinking is the norm. Kathryn received an MBE in the Queen’s Honours in 2015 for Services to Education. (4)

Written & cited by Katy-Jane Mason for & on behalf of Virtually Smart Ltd.