The International Women in Engineering Day is celebrated annually on June 23. Its aim is to raise the profile of women in engineering focusing attention on the amazing career opportunities available to the girls in the engineering industry. It celebrates the outstanding achievements of women engineers around the world.
In 2014, the Women Engineering Society launched National Women in Engineering Day in the United Kingdom. Over the years the campaign grew to a global event and in 2017, this day became international.
It is a day that is set aside to inspire girls and young women around the world to take up engineering courses and celebrate women engineers who have had successful careers. It is a day to support young girls in Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects through organising outreach events to demonstrate to the young girls and women that engineering is an exciting field.
This day is also a day when practising female engineers showcase their skills and experience as role models to the girls and young women aiming to take up engineering careers.
Engineering in Kenya has remained a male-dominated field for years. Women often feel less confident about their abilities in STEM subjects even when they perform as well as men in these subjects. Girls are generally discouraged from showing interest in engineering as a result of gender stereotypes. It is evident that gender biases are directed towards the girls because of the beliefs that boys do better in STEM subjects and are better suited for engineering jobs than girls.
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Unfortunately, sometimes teachers and parents reinforce these stereotypes and tend to display these attitudes both at school and home. At school level, it is not a surprise to find teachers encouraging girls to focus on art subjects and parents influencing girls to undertake these art subjects as career choices. Research shows that stereotypes largely contribute to the underrepresentation of women in the engineering and other technical fields.
Evidence shows that women who endure the STEM subjects and are able to overcome these barriers tend to find engineering a fulfilling and rewarding profession. However, in the recent years, data shows that 40 per cent of female engineers have left the engineering field because of lack of jobs and motivation.
Further, the acceptance of women as engineers by the Kenyan society is still low. Society continues to perceive women in engineering negatively; many times questioning women engineers’ choice of the ‘difficult work conditions’ yet they have other ‘softer’ career options. According to Women Engineers Society of Kenya, one in every four female engineers leaves this field of engineering at a certain stage of life.
This year’s theme: Inventors and innovators, is especially relevant for women, not only in engineering, but also across other STEM related careers. It speaks to the need for creativity and the utilisation of acquired skills to provide innovative solutions to the different challenges that we face today.
Skills in engineering are particularly useful as many communities increasingly move away from the traditional ways of problem-solving to modern, more advance and efficient tools and techniques. There is need to mentor women in the various engineering disciplines to help them fully utilise the skills acquired in school, and provide them with the industry knowledge they require to get started and thrive in their fields. Role modelling too will provide future female engineers with real-life evidence of success in the otherwise-male dominated field.
Skilling and mentoring programme implementers must work closely with private and public partner industries to enable as many qualified women as possible get absorbed into the job market. Further, upon completion of the mentoring and skilling programmes, graduates should be provided with certification to enhance their chances of securing jobs.
We need to encourage girls who are passionate about engineering and related disciplines to begin at the level of their qualifications and grow. The perception that only learners with very high grades can study engineering needs to be challenged especially for girls who may not have qualified to study engineering at the degree level. In fact, a lot of the everyday engineering needs at the community levels require the skills of diploma and lower level graduates.
Commendably, the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service places students in various engineering-related courses within the Technical and Vocational education and Training institutions. We need to intensify awareness creation among girls to encourage them to take advantage of the government sponsorships and enroll into the craft and artisan certificate as well as diploma courses.
Research shows that early exposure of children to technology and engineering concepts is likely to demystify the disciplines, especially when they are portrayed more as creative problem-solving processes than difficult areas that require perfection in mathematics and related courses.
-Prof Waudo is the Director, Centre for Gender Equality and Empowerment and Leader, Kenyatta University Women’s Economic Empowerment Hub
