We must ensure that adequate investment is directed towards uplifting women and girls
It is not surprising that governments around the world are pinning their hopes for economic recovery on the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), given its transformative power in every sector of society. The South African government too is making significant efforts to advance the development of digital technology and implement initiatives to increase adoption. This cannot be achieved, however, without taking into account the inclusion of specific and targeted policies to bring women and girls into the digital space, and ensuring that gender gaps are closed across the board.
The 4IR has thus far harshly emphasised the considerable inequalities in South Africa, especially among unskilled and low-income citizens, with women representing a staggering 97% of this figure (Statistica 2018). Factors such as gender stereotyping, digital illiteracy, inaccessibility to data and discrimination have confirmed digital gender exclusion in the country. This is exacerbated by the fact that South Africa ranks as one of Africa’s top ten countries in terms of high data costs, which inextricably limits people’s access to the digital world. There are still some spaces, especially in rural communities, where gender digital inclusion is rated very low. The hope is that, as acknowledged in the Presidential Commission on the 4IR, a national response strategy is implemented to fully harness its innovation potential and uplift South Africans, especially women and girls.
As we turn the lens to science, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation (STEMI), we see that despite an improvement in recent years, women inventors accounted for only 16.5% of inventors listed in international patent applications in 2022. Women founders of start-ups still struggle to access finance and, in large tech companies, they remain underrepresented in both leadership and technical positions. Added to this is the fact that 122 years since the award’s inception in 1901, only 3% of Nobel Laureates are women scientists. Women also account for only 28% of engineering graduates and 40% of graduates in computer science and informatics.
The gender gap widens as women progress in their academic careers, with lower participation at each successive rung of the ladder from doctoral student to full professor. This number dwindles to almost a net zero statistic when you examine the number of vice chancellors, principals and CEOs employed to lead universities and other research entities. This clearly demonstrates the “leaky pipeline” in action — where the proportion of women decreases at each career stage from undergraduate through tp postgraduate, postdoc, lecturer, senior lecturer, professor and leadership levels.
While there is evidence of some encouraging and positive change happening, particularly on the African continent, in order to groom the next generation of women in science, and accelerate parity, so that women’s successes are cultivated and nurtured, we must ensure that adequate investment is directed towards women and girls. In this way they will have access to opportunities in order to devise sustainable solutions to the challenges that plague our societies, and be equipped with the appropriate knowledge and tools to position themselves for the careers of the future, especially those driven by the 4IR.
I believe the following interventions can catalyse change:
1. Build business and financial competence
Women in science face serious challenges and an arduous journey in accessing funds to advance their research, publish in scientific journals; not to mention in eventually patenting or monetising their innovations. Besides mentoring and training opportunities, strategies for improving access to business and financial literacy are necessary for building successful science-based enterprises. This means empowering female scientists with the relevant entrepreneurial skills, financial tools and competencies that go beyond the core research training.
2. Leverage networks and communities of practice
There is an urgent need to create awareness and empower early career women scientists on how they can leverage the available opportunities in the field. By establishing or strengthening local, regional and continental networks for women in STEMI, such as the Organisation for Women in Science in the Developing World, women and girls can share and benefit from their collective knowledge and experience. Building strong communities of like-minded women across generations and borders will help to inform, inspire and increase women’s participation in STEMI, whether it is in classrooms, laboratories and boardrooms.
3. Strengthen ecosystems for inclusion and retention
Addressing the under-representation of women and girls in science requires an accelerated holistic approach, as highlighted by UNESCO. This calls for redesigning and rethinking multi-stakeholder engagements and partnerships between academia, government, communities, businesses and private sector — collaborating and working together to promote gender equity in science policy and practice. It also calls for the participation of men as allies in supporting and uplifting their female colleagues. Equal inclusion in STEMI ultimately benefits society as a whole. I recommend that we need to:
- invest in human capacity development, primarily focusing on women. This should involve cultivating communication, logical and numeracy skills necessary to develop the capacity to code, think computationally and grow a holistic approach to problem-solving from primary school levels
- incentivise 4IR industries, which can assume the shape and form of tax breaks, assistance with research and development support and in particular focus on women and small and medium enterprises
- actively implement policy and invest in the necessary infrastructures to improve access to the internet and bring women and girls into the digital space, especially those in poor and marginalised communities; and
- address gender discrimination, the exploitation of women, and gender-based violence to enable the development of a sustainable digitised gender equal society. Women’s representation in digital spaces is an essential component of our economic advancement.
The numerous challenges facing today’s global community — from combating climate change to improving health — require the full and equal participation of every talented scientist; and now more than ever before, the recognition of women’s untapped talent, potential and contribution is needed.
Dr Rakeshnie Ramoutar-Prieschl is Head: Research and Development at the University of Pretoria (on secondment to the Department of Science & Innovation as Acting Deputy Director-General of Technology & Innovation)