SMA Head Wants Every Child To Be Empowered To Pursue Career In Science And Technology

Policymakers and industry leaders have been urged to partner and reconstruct an enabling society in which every child is empowered to pursue a career in science and technology.

The call comes from Managing Director of Spectrum Management Authority (SMA), Dr. Maria Myers Hamilton, in anticipation of International Girls in ICT Day, to be observed on April 28.

Innovators have also been called on to assist in the transformation, as “there will be an increased need for the natural strengths of women” in these industries soon as the nation moves towards a world characterised by artificial intelligence, digitised healthcare and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related trends, she noted.

“Our girls have the answer, and we have the power to literally shape our future,” she added.

“There’s a scientist, engineer, innovator and entrepreneur in every woman, despite being grossly misrepresented in the [technology] industry… . Nevertheless, in celebration of [the day], let us focus on what we can do today. The change must happen now,” Dr. Myers Hamilton said.

She argued that prioritising and supporting educational advancement for girls beyond the primary school level are pivotal in reshaping the society, adding that this is how the country can begin to re-establish itself as a global pioneer in media, technology, science, business and culture.

Citing global statistics, she pointed out that since 2018, women have held only 25 per cent of all the jobs in the technology industry, and that while 33 per cent of males reported that they were encouraged to pursue careers in technology, only 16 per cent of females have received such a suggestion.

“That is why we have to harness and sharpen all of the tools, talents and people that make our one human race so beautifully diverse and complex,” she said.