(Dan Tri) - Besides intellectual capacity, women possess many strengths from meticulousness or the ability to multitask and have diverse perspectives, suitable for the science and technology industry.
This will be a competitive advantage for women to balance the gender landscape in the science and technology industry, just need a really strong lever.
A vital piece in the technology industry
From its earliest days, the history of computer science and information technology (IT) has been marked by many important contributions from women. Some prominent names include Ada Lovelace - the world's first female computer programmer, Radia Perlman - the "Mother" of the Internet, or Grace Hopper - the first person to use the term "debug" (fixing programming errors).
But over the past century, the iconic female figure in computer science has become increasingly rare. According to a UN Women report, by 2023, women will make up just 28% of the global STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workforce.
Women are underrepresented in the science, technology and computer industries.
This shortage is a big loss for the science and technology industry, because women possess many abilities that are suitable for specific jobs in the industry. For example, meticulousness and observation skills are very suitable for jobs such as Quality Control, Testing. In positions such as UX/UI (interface design and user experience), women also demonstrate creativity and good aesthetic sense...
What is the future for women in technology?
Many countries around the world have recognized this gap and are working to change policies to encourage women's participation in science and technology.
According to a Forbes report (2023), 82% of the largest Fortune 500 technology companies have adopted a paid parental leave policy of 16-52 weeks for both men and women; 65% of large technology companies provide childcare subsidies or have on-site daycare.
In Vietnam, 65% of IT companies have a policy of prioritizing female candidates, 72% of companies have special training programs for female employees, and 45% of companies aim to increase the proportion of women to 40% by 2025, according to a report by Vietnam IT Recruitment (2023).
Many policies have been introduced to remove barriers for women in the technology field.
The most attractive thing is that the salary of the science and technology industry is expected to increase by 15-20% per year. In Vietnam, the average salary of female technology employees is about 25-50 million VND/month, much higher than other industries, according to data from TopDev 2023.
Despite the promising prospects, 2023 figures show that female students only account for about 30-35% of the total number of IT students at top universities. According to TopDev, in 2023 in Vietnam, the number of female workers in the IT industry will only be about 32%, still a large gap to equalize with men.
Promoting gender equality and women's empowerment through education
In order to maximize the potential of women in STEM in general and IT in particular, the strategy of the General Department of Vocational Education sets a target of reaching 40% of female enrollment in STEM by 2030. This is also consistent with the National Strategy on Gender Equality for the period 2021 - 2030.
With this orientation, many organizations in Vietnam have implemented priority programs for female students in the technology industry. Notably, the Tech Queens Scholarship is specifically for undergraduate programs in the field of computer science and technology at British University Vietnam (BUV).
Bachelor's programmes in computer science and technology awarded directly by world-leading Staffordshire University and Stirling University include cyber security, cloud technology, game design and programming, game graphics, data science and artificial intelligence, software engineering.
Education can empower women through meaningful scholarships like BUV's Talented Technology Female Students.
The scholarship is open to outstanding Vietnamese female students aged 18 to 30, who have completed secondary education or are currently in Grade 12 with a GPA of 8.0 or higher, and a minimum IELTS score of 6.0. The selection criteria include factors such as academic ability, leadership potential, ability to contribute to the community, creative and innovative thinking, and technology skills.
Dr. Ali Al-Dulaimi, Dean, Faculty of Computer Science and Technology, BUV shared: "With the message of Supporting talented female students with a passion for technology, the BUV Talented Female Technology Student Scholarship makes an important contribution to the effort to build Vietnam's innovation ecosystem. By training the future generation of female technology leaders, the program will accompany the goal of making Vietnam a regional innovation center as set out by the Government in the National Strategy on the 4.0 Industrial Revolution by 2030".
BUV's Talented Female Technology Scholarship officially opens for registration from January 15.
To find out more about the scholarship, visit here.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/phu-nu-lam-cong-nghe-xoa-dinh-kien-gioi-bang-suc-manh-giao-duc-20250114220723537.htm
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