Happy International Girls in ICT Day!

Today we’re raising awareness about the need to include more young women and girls in the #tech field and to equip them with the necessary digital skills to achieve that.

⌛ Despite continuous efforts to achieve equality for women everywhere, The World Bank estimates that it will take at least 50 years, at the current pace, to approach legal gender equality everywhere in the world.

Gender inequality is prominent in tech as well: although women account for half of the world’s population, they make up only 17.5% of the tech workforce worldwide.

👩‍💻 This gap starts early in life when girls are socialized into “gender-specific” roles. Oftentimes, they are encouraged to pursue teaching or jobs that are typically considered more “feminine.” As essential as these fields are, it is equally important to show young girls that the technology field is not “masculine” and is not male-exclusive. Women too can be programmers, data analysts, or cybersecurity specialists, and the list continues.

In a study of 2,000 A-Level and university students, it was found that only 27% of the women surveyed considered a career in technology, compared to 61% of male students.

It is even more difficult for certain women to pursue careers in the technology sector: those coming from disadvantaged environments, women of different ethnicities and races, Indigenous women, trans women, and women from other minority groups.

📣 Manushya has always supported all women! As an intersectional feminist organization, equality for women is something we are constantly advocating for. We want to see a future where young girls can be confident in their digital skills, where they can achieve their dreams and not face unnecessary obstacles. Digital skills are for everybody!

#WeAreManushyan ♾ Equal Human Beings

👉 We have been advocating for equality for a long time. You can have a look at some of our previous work powering women:

• Women, girls, and people of diverse genders are at a higher risk of digital harm, 31 March 2023

• International Day of Women Judges, to show our support for women in powerful positions, 9 March 2023

• Celebrating Women History Month, 3 March 2023

• Joint Civil Society CEDAW Report , providing an inclusive and accurate overview of the most challenging issues faced by women and marginalized women in Thailand, 7 October 2022

• Joint CERD Shadow Report 'Thailand is a Paradise But only for the 1%', detailing the issues faced by communities and marginalized individuals in Thailand, 25 October 2021

• Thailand III UPR Factsheet on Indigenous Women in Thailand, 29 September 2021

References:

• The World Bank, Women, Business and the Law 2023, (2023), available at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/105265e8-311a-4b39-a71b-e455a86dd0ba/content

• UNESCO, Closing the Digital Skills Gender Divide, (20 July 2022), available at: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/closing-digital-skills-gender-divide?TSPD_101_R0=080713870fab20006c51e9d96c1a5a80baf44c7d5d59a360ac5e9bb6f41b9d2eb25bac3ae742a71208a4ceb1271430000a4416504abd5aaaf51e8a67a0e3b64ac229bd63909229cb69d9d980283381447933b9302fd722e24b66a228c3aef047

• PwC, Women in Tech. Time to close the gender gap, available at:https://www.pwc.co.uk/who-we-are/her-tech-talent/time-to-close-the-gender-gap.html