The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Akure FUTA, Professor Adenike Oladiji, has tasked young girls who have flare for the sciences to pursue their dreams regardless of the odds against them.
She gave the advice at the 2023 International Day of Women and Girls in Science organised by Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) FUTA in conjunction with Network of Nigerian Women in STEM NWiSTEM, Women Dignity Initiative Inc (WDII) and Centre for Gender Issues in Science and Technology, CEGIST on the 9th of February 2023.
She said, “By the grace of God, I am in a position to tell my younger ones that I know that if I can do it, you can do it too. And even much better. It is necessary to emphasize that women are not intellectually inferior to men but through ages religious and cultural factors have either inhibited or outrightly prevented manifestation of Gods given talent of female folks. In spite of the challenges seventeen percent of Nobel prize winners in science are women.”
Professor Oladiji said that many Nigerian women have excelled in the academia in recent times; several women have emerged as Vice Chancellors of universities in Nigeria. This, according to her, goes to show that many women have shattered the proverbial glass ceilings. She enjoined participants to avail themselves of the intellectually rich portfolio of the resource persons and gather the required knowledge to engage and contribute to the efforts of bridging the gap between the male and female folk in science.
Represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Development, Professor Phillip Oguntunde, Oladiji further said “the gathering of today inspires me, I always feel motivated to inspire budding female scientists because of the natural and cultural barriers that have stemmed intellectual growth of many promising female scholars”.
The focus of the 2023 International Day of the Women and Girls in Science is on the role of Women and Girls in Science in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals with the theme “Innovate. Demonstrate. Elevate. Advocate. Sustain. (I.D.E.A.S): Bringing Everyone Forward for Sustainable and Equitable Development.”
The Guest Speaker at the event and NNPC/Shell Professorial Chair of Geophysics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Professor Mary Olowokere, speaking on the topic, “Breaking Boundaries for a Sustainable Future: Roles of Girls and Women in STEM”, said the major challenges for the current generation of mankind is to develop clear vision of the future that is both desirable to the vast majority of humanity and ecologically sustainable. Professor Olowokere pointed out that today only one third of world researchers are female and the proportion of women in the most cutting-edge fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Software development, Data science, Geosciences, Computing is even lower. She said women’s access to science and technology varies between regions but even if women break into these traditionally male dominated fields, they still face challenges not encountered by their male counterparts.
She said for a sustainable future, there was the urgent need to bring women and girls to the forefront of the fight against climate change and other roles which include health and wellbeing, reducing environmental impact, food security, efficient use of energy, changing the globe into developmental opportunities is essential for turning population explosion into reproductive health, poverty and environmental degradation into sustainable human development and violence into peace and cooperation.
Professor Olowokere said women in general and women scientists in particular, have the potential for making a major contribution to sustainable human development particularly through their humanist understanding of the role of science and technology, solidarity in sharing their benefits, careful judgment of unwanted side effects in applications of science on society and the environment and as leaders- ability to change ruthless competition into competitive cooperation for achieving common goals. Concluding she said the International Day of Women and Girls in Science is a unique opportunity to rally our efforts and narrow the gender gap in this field that is central in achieving the SDGs for a sustainable future.
Earlier In her welcome Address, the chairperson, OWSD FUTA branch, Professor Folasade Olajuyigbe said despite the level of global awareness programmes aimed at bridging the gender gap in Science Technology and Engineering And Mathematics disciplines, significant disparities remain in participation and representation of women in STEM especially among the population in developing countries.
She said in sub–Saharan Africa women make up only eighteen percent of scientists compared to forty nine percent in South East Europe and the Caribbean, forty four percent in Central Asia and Latin America and thirty seven percent in Arab Countries. According to her, these numbers have steadily declined in recent years due to a variety of factors including the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic which negatively impacted the participation and productivity of a large number of individuals. Professor Olajuyigbe said that it’s very important to celebrate women in science who have broken through barriers via determination and purpose to become today’s role model and girls in science who are focused on unleashing their potential.
The OWSD, she said, is an international forum to unite eminent women from the developing and developed world with the objective of strengthening their roles in the development process and promoting their representation in scientific and technological leadership. The OWSD Chairperson said “This day we celebrate the critical roles that women and girls play in tackling major challenges of our time through active contributions in the fields of science and technology, women and girls who are leading innovation and call for actions to remove all barriers that hold them back around the world.
There were lectures on: Women as Change maker for Sustainable Development, Harnessing new technologies and approaches to advance gender equality for sustainable development and Drug Abuse by Professor Victoria Bello, Engr. Dr. Oluwatoyin Olaseinde and Pharm. Kemi Akinbile.
The event was attended by OWSD members, girls from secondary schools within Akure and staff and students of FUTA.