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NEW YORK, Oct 11 (IPS) – The theme of this yr’s annual International Day of the Girl Child, on October 11, “Digital era. Our era.”, acknowledges the digital transformation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However whereas the pandemic accelerated the transition to on-line studying, working and networking, it additionally accelerated ladies and woman’s danger of being left behind.
In 2020, more than 60 million women in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) had no access to the mobile internet and so, have been extra probably than males to overlook out on studying and dealing alternatives.
Access, ownership and use of digital tools are not gender-neutral: As an illustration, dad and mom could also be stricter with ladies than boys in the usage of cell phones and actions that require the usage of the web, whereas households with restricted computing sources would possibly redirect these to boys and males over women and girls, typically tasked with home chores and unpaid work. Elements resembling affordability and value additionally have an effect on ladies and ladies disproportionally.
Furthermore, social norms, gender bias and a scarcity of assist from the household and lecturers typically dissuade women and girls from selecting training programmes in Science, Expertise, Engineering and Arithmetic (STEM) and from pursuing careers in these fields.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, one in three ladies report being discouraged by their households from selecting STEM topics extra broadly at college, whereas in Ukraine 23 p.c of girls aged 15-24 report a scarcity of self-confidence as the primary motive for not pursuing a profession in know-how. With fewer ladies pursuing STEM fields, the shortage of girls function fashions for the youthful era persists, reinforcing the issue.
Gender equality in STEM
We should all be part of forces to advance gender equality in STEM. Measures embody eradicating gender stereotypes in training, elevating consciousness and selling STEM topics to women and girls, and providing profession steerage to encourage ladies to think about learning in fields dominated by males.
Our regional advocacy platform, STEM4All, is partaking with a number of companions – from policymakers and educational establishments to ladies and ladies themselves– in sharing data, constructing coalitions and making connections to advance gender equality in STEM.
Earlier this yr, the platform facilitated a ‘Girls in Tech: Central Asia’ event, which introduced collectively leaders from the tech trade and ICT function fashions to share experiences and supply recommendation to greater than 120 women and girls in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
One in all our targets within the platform is to profile high-impact initiatives by our companions, authorities, and the non-public sector. As an illustration, the Engineer Girls of Turkey project is an excellent mannequin of how we will enhance the employability of certified ladies in engineering with scholarships, internships and mentoring, and training assist.
In Azerbaijan, UNDP has partnered with USAID in piloting a nine-month mentorship programme to equip younger ladies and ladies with instruments and recommendation to progress in STEM fields. The platform is powered by the Accelerator Labs, a UNDP studying community created to speed up progress in the direction of the achievement of the Sustainable Growth Targets.
The Future of labor
Whereas the demand for staff in STEM occupations is only expected to grow in the future, in Europe and Central Asia, the share of girls researchers in engineering and know-how crosses 40 percent only in a few countries. The variety of ladies in laptop science can be notably low in comparison with males: ladies are solely 18 p.c of ICT specialists in the EU, whereas simply 16 percent of founders in the ICT and tech fields in Southern Caucasus and Western CIS are ladies.
Cultural and social norms, a scarcity of childcare assist, and insufficient parental go away insurance policies are main limitations to ladies getting into and progressing in careers of their alternative. These obstacles are amplified manifold in STEM fields, whose men-dominated workplaces and entrenched gender stereotypes current formidable impediments for a lot of proficient ladies.
Gender equality in STEM and in the way forward for work is a objective unto itself. We can not deny half of humanity the chance to enter and succeed on this high-growth sector which powers the inexperienced and digital transition.
However there are additionally compelling financial and social causes for us to try in the direction of this objective.
Within the EU, for instance, closing the gender hole in STEM may result in an additional 1.2 million jobs. Extra ladies graduating in STEM topics and selecting careers in higher-wage sectors can regularly enhance their common earnings, serving to to shut the gender wage hole.
The world and the way forward for work want ladies’s abilities and views, expertise and management, as a lot as these of males. This requires all our concerted actions to shut the gender digital hole and leverage the ability of know-how to advance ladies’ and girls’s training, management and equal future.
Mirjana Spoljaric Egger is Assistant Secretary-Normal of the United Nations, Assistant Administrator of UNDP, and Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS. She was appointed to this place by the Secretary-Normal of the United Nations in August 2018 and assumed her duties in October 2018.
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© Inter Press Service (2021) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
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