On the importance of girls and women in STEM
For a long time women and girls had been kept away from the world of science, since most of them were married before they had finished school, (when they had been able to go there at all).
Yet, in fact, it is interesting to know that digital technology was the domain of women at first, and that they had left it when men had taken over AI.
Now some countries, like our country, France, have opened the doors of STEM and Artificial Intelligence to women and girls, but these are less numerous in choosing those studies, and this has been reinforced during COVID, which has stopped progress in these areas, since girls (as well as boys in that period) have dropped out of schools, leaving behind their chances of a good job in science or technology.
It is of great importance that states should think of this matter very urgently and again give children and young people, female as male, the notion that education is very important. Moreover, some organisations have understood this, like UNESCO which supports the L’Oréal Society in its allocation of scholarships to laureates, girls or women, who have projects in science. This fight must include both sexes, working together since, if it is not so, the Sustainable Development Goals will never be achieved.
Owing to the uncertainty of our future, all of us are concerned by climate change and all the catastrophes it brings. Women and girls must be reassured and told that they used to be great in Artificial Intelligence and computer matters and that they must keep proving how good, how strong and how able they are to show men that they are as good, if not better than men, and that, as we know, at the university level, they have better results than men.
It is also the role of the United Nations to encourage all the member states to do all they can to lead the population in the preparation of what is to come and give the men to understand that, without the women’s help, we won’t be able to make the transition and leave no-one behind.
Monique Bouaziz et Danielle Levy
Representatives at UNESCO Paris
Members of Commission on Education
One Response
The COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare crisis have brought digital health into the spotlight. At the same time, Femtech has begun to attract more attention and discussion. Previously, women’s health was usually categorized under reproductive health. However, women’s health is more than just reproductive health. Women have long received care and treatment “designed for men, or designed by men”. In the age of precision health, it’s time for women to receive gender-specific treatment and care.