Women in science, technology, and engineering gathered for the IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Summit, held November 16–17 at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane.
The occasion honored their successes and ignited hope for a time when their influence will extend beyond invention. One common topic that emerged from the summit’s discussions was the ability of technology, entrepreneurship, and gender equality to spur innovation and economic growth.
The summit directed the narrative towards a powerful junction of technology and entrepreneurship under the topic of “Empowering Women in Technology: Fostering Innovation for Sustainable Impact and Entrepreneurship.”
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The impact of the summit
Franziska Laurien, a business and life coach who stressed the value of the event for women, particularly in the fields of technology and entrepreneurship, said that women have a lot to gain from attending.
She praised the university for realizing the significance of producing a workforce that is not just technically talented but also knowledgeable in business practices and welcomed its decision to incorporate both engineering and entrepreneurship into the course curriculum.
Laurien envisioned a world in which graduates who were talented in both engineering and business might head their own enterprises. He emphasized the critical necessity for graduates who possessed both of these sets of skills. Her perspective is that this is consistent with Morocco’s efforts to promote economic growth and women’s rights.
In addition to this, she brought attention to the economic loss that Morocco experiences as a result of the low participation percentage of women, which is approximately 20%.
“Society is both men and women. And if you have a society where you have only men that are participating in the development of the society, this is an unbalanced society,” she said.
In her discussion of the benefits of entrepreneurship for female tech enthusiasts, Laurien cited the fact that it can assist women in striking a better balance between their personal and professional lives as something that struck her as particularly “innovative.”
More charge on tech women
Meryem Kassou, the Chief Executive Officer of Digitis, spoke about her experiences as an entrepreneur in the field of technology. She highlighted the significance of encouraging women to enter the sector of technology, which is dominated by men.
In this regard, she stressed the “advantageous” position that Morocco has in comparison to other nations with the number of female engineers, which in the country of Morocco stands at 42%. Morocco is located in the North African region.
Kassou addressed the issues that face female entrepreneurs as well as the opportunities that exist for them during the International Summit on Entrepreneurship.
She placed a particular emphasis on the importance of closing the gender gap in the technology industry and encouraging more female tech enthusiasts to pursue careers in this sector. Kassou emphasized how important it is to recognize and seize the multiple chances that are accessible for women to begin their own business paths. She noted that there are a lot of opportunities.
“We have to keep in mind that there are many opportunities for women to start their journey in the entrepreneurship field,” she said.
As for his part, Mehdi Alaoui, CEO of the Los Angeles-based startup Station, took part in a lively discussion as part of the ongoing summit to debate the topic of women’s entrepreneurship.
Alaoui stressed the importance of consistently encouraging women to enter the technology sector, highlighting both the problems and potential that are present in the field.
He underlined that female tech enthusiasts might be their primary obstacle and encouraged them to overcome self-doubt, challenge themselves, and build their own enterprises. He also emphasized that women can be the key barrier to achieving equality.
“The only thing that blocks women from creating their entrepreneurship is themselves,” he said.
In line with the demographic make-up of the world as a whole, Alaoui emphasized the significance of establishing a “50-50” gender balance in the business world of entrepreneurship. According to him, given that we are split evenly down the middle, the entrepreneurial world ought to be the same way.
In the context of the entrepreneurial environment, he encouraged women to be more “persistent” in their pursuit of mentorship and the destruction of any barriers that stood in the way of their success.
He emphasized that, “they need to override that and overcome these barriers and challenge themselves to create their startups.”