To close the gender gap and promote diversity, IT companies are looking for skilled female employees, but the talent pool is still small.
This is according to Prudence Mathebula (26), the managing director of Dynamic DNA, a software training institute. Mathebula said equipping more talented women with the right critical skills of the future starts at the grassroots level.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (Unicef)’ “Mapping gender equality in STEM from school to work” by Andaleeb Alam, globally only 18 percent of girls in tertiary education are pursuing STEM studies — compared to 35 percent of boys.
The entrepreneur who was born in Soweto is not shocked that South African women also tend to shy away from STEM related degrees in higher education.
“With women making considerable strides in fields that were previously male dominated, the lines of career limitations have blurred.
“There are more career choices available to women now than ever before, allowing them to take charge of their own destiny. It is so important that women start to view their career in technology as a major life-changing opportunity,” said Mathebula.
She wants to up-skill as many of South Africa's poor and unemployed 15-34 year-old women for the 4IR (4th Industrial Revolution), and dispel the myth that an ICT career leads to dull male occupations.
Boitumelo Tshepe, one of the initiative's participants, is a maths prodigy in school. With an older sister who is studying web development, Tshepe knew that a future in IT was a no-brainer, but she needed the credentials and experience.
Tshepe is now in her final year of a Level 5 National Certificate in Information Technology Systems Development course.
Baratang Miya, the founder of GirlHYPE: Women who code said females are being noticed in tech and the future looks bright. “Innovation by women is starting to be taken seriously, the tech space is starting to accept us,” said Miya.
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