In years past, a significant gap has been seen between women and Science, Technology, Mathematics, and Engineering(STEM) areas. Although more women are making headway in the STEM spaces, they are barely represented. Gender equality has always been a priority for UNESCO since the empowerment and participation of females go a long way to aid in the development of a nation and the achievement of the Sustainable Development(SDG) Goals.  

As the years roll by, the global community has put in a lot of efforts to inspire and introduce females into the STEM community. However, this has been rendered almost impossible by the long-standing biases and gender stereotypes that are scaring women and girls away from science-related fields. In order to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, as well as further achieve gender equality and female empowerment, the UN General Assembly declared 11th February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

GSET joins the world to celebrate females in science as we mark the 7th yearly International Day of Women and Girls in Science since its formation in 2015. The theme for this year is  “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Water Unites Us” in line with SDG Goal 6 which talks about clean water and sanitation. The Day focuses on the reality that science and gender equality are both vital for the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The theme was chosen in order to help persons worldwide acknowledge the role of women and girls in science, not only as beneficiaries but also as agents of change. This includes seeing them as part of accelerating progress towards the achievement of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).

Ghana has persistent inequalities in access, participation, and success in STEM subjects that exist along socioeconomic, gender, and geographic lines, as well as among students with disabilities. According to data from the UN Scientific Education and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), fewer than 30% of researchers worldwide are women and approximately 30% of all female students select STEM-related fields in higher education. Globally, female students’ enrolment is particularly low in ICT (3%), natural science, mathematics and statistics (5%), and engineering, manufacturing, and construction (8%).

The Ghana Society for Education Technology (GSET) played a contributing role in supporting this campaign over the past year. On February 10th, 2021, GSET in collaboration with Developers in Vogue and CAMFED Association embarked on an outreach program to teens from the Golden Sunbeam Montessori School-Adenta. This event was focused on encouraging young ladies to pick up careers in STEM fields. 

GSET relishes the opportunity to celebrate this day of empowering our cherished women and girls and also seeks to capitalize on this window to encourage our ladies in picking up careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). That being said, we would like to extend our reach to more organizations in the country.