Rise above inequalities, societal discrimination, women in technology advised

The acting President of the Association of Women in the Media (ASWIM), Mrs Mavis Kitcher, has called on women in technology to rise above inequalities and societal discrimination and break the glass ceiling in their chosen fields of specialisation.

She said as women in a male-dominated industry, it was important for them to be innovative and quickly adapt to the needs of society.

Women empowerment

Mrs Kitcher who is also the Acting Director in charge of News and Editor of the Junior Graphic of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), made the statement when she addressed the 8th Annual Women’s Conference of the Ghana National Union of Technical Students (GNUTS) at the Koforidua Technical University last Friday. She was the guest speaker.

The conference, held on the theme: “Building a strong Foundation Towards the realisation of Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG5) Through Women Empowerment”, was attended by representatives from all technical universities in the country.

Solid foundation

Mrs Kitcher indicated that as women in the technology industry, the important thing was for them to be curious to learn more about the industry and quickly adapt to the needs of society so that they could make themselves relevant in their field of study.

“As young women in the field of technology, you should recognise that ICT is a growing industry.

Indeed there is a huge opportunity for growth for each female in this sector and I urge you all to take the opportunity to build a solid foundation for yourselves now to become high class entrepreneurs in the future”, she said.

She said the SDGs were crucial to the improvement of the lives of all generations and there was the need to work towards the attainment of those goals, particularly with the initiation of projects and programmes to reduce gender inequality and also end all forms of discrimination against women and girls.

“The importance of girls and women’s access to education, healthcare, decent work and representation in political and economic decision-making in the society cannot be over-emphasised”, she said.

Technology

She urged young women in technology to identify mentors and reach out to them for direction and support as some of those mentors may end up giving them good referrals for jobs to aid them after they graduate.

“I want you to bear in mind that being a woman in technology is a badge of honour so wear it with pride and be proud about it for it is a great achievement. Continue to work hard to make a difference and never forget to hold the hands of other women”, she said.

She added that when they “achieve greater heights that will be a very positive way to overcome the inequalities and discrimination against women.”

She advised them never to give up on their dreams but to work hard to confront the challenges that may confront them and strive to succeed in all their endeavours.

Developing talents

The GNUTS Women’s Commissioner, Ms Sandra Lewu Teiko, said the union’s annual women’s conference was aimed at empowering and developing the talents of young women in the technical universities and polytechnics in the country to actively participate in governance and leadership.

She said women constituted a greater portion of the world’s population but were often deeply impaired by poverty, climate change, food insecurity, lack of healthcare and global economic crisis, among others.

She said it was, therefore, an obvious requirement for women to lead the change in finding solutions to global challenges as outlined in the SDGs.

“GNUPs strongly supports the principle that in order to become a successful leader and a career woman, there is the need for any young woman to have a clear vision and strategy”, she said.