The interest of Nigerians, especially the female folks in technology development is on the rise as the push for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses are getting huge attention.
Findings by TechCabal in the Nigerian Women in Tech Report, powered by the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, which confirmed this, informed that more than 65 percent of the female STEM university students surveyed applied for those courses as a result of their passion and interests as against being pressured by their parents to do so or because it was the only available option.
The report, which examined the distribution and level of involvement of women in Nigeria’s technology and STEM fields, noted that 59 percent of the survey respondents admit to facing challenges in their course of study, however, over 75 percent of the same respondents said that the challenges are not gender-related. However, despite the challenges faced, 54 percent of them are happily studying the course.
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Furthermore, the majority of the founders surveyed, about 55.6 percent said that the challenges they faced were gender-based while many of the developers surveyed didn’t feel this way. 83 percent of the latter felt that their challenges weren’t gender-based.
According to the report, the number and percentage of female developers in the tech companies we surveyed are increasing with each passing year, which shows that there is a growing interest in women’s participation in the tech field.
It also disclosed that less than 50 percent of the female students surveyed see themselves having a STEM-related career in the next five to 10 years. The report, which is available for free download, looks at the gaps that exist in women’s participation, challenges and highlights recommendations for improvement. It also puts the spotlight on 21 women entrepreneurs, c-suite executives, and seven women developers working in the Nigerian technology industry.
According to the Chief Executive Officer at Big Cabal Media, the parent company of TechCabal, Tomiwa Aladekomo, said: “Notwithstanding decades of progress towards workplace equality, women remain underrepresented in Nigeria’s technology workforce. We’ve embarked on this report to showcase the arena where women in technology play across Nigeria, and the contribution to the big picture when we look at it through the lens of STEM.”