By Zainab Jobarteh
The underrepresentation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in The Gambia has been talked about in different platforms over the years, and while ideas on how to tackle this are being discussed, there is still a huge gap between men and women in these fields.
In their bid to take part in bridging this gap, a number of brilliant women, under the leadership of a Telecommunications Engineer, Mrs. Kodou Jeng Gaye, came together to establish an association that would encourage Gambian women to overcome their fears and choose the STEM fields. This association is called Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (WiSTEM)
In an exclusive interview with the association’s Public Relations Officer, who is also an Electrical Engineer, Mrs. Nyima Jobarteh said their main object is to promote the study and practice of STEM to Gambian women, to encourage and motivate women and girls no matter their age to pursue their dreams in STEM.
“As early as 7 years or as late as 70 years, we can mentor you to do something and probably make a difference in the country,’’ she said.
Mrs. Jobarteh explained that WiSTEM is advocating against the societal belief that women would not fit in perfectly in the STEM fields, noting that the problem starts from home.
“It is like a taboo for a woman to be in the engineering or tech fields because it is a male-dominated field. We are told our bodies are not built for it; we will get deformed or we are too close to the men,’’ she lamented.
She acknowledged that the narrative is changing, compared to before because women are beginning to excel in their STEM careers and parents are not seeing them as weird people anymore. She added that some parents are even encouraging their children to become engineers “because nobody is getting dirty or having serious accidents because everything is automated’’.
Mrs. Jobarteh however noted that they still have real challenges, and one way to tackle those challenges is by sponsoring girls to study as a lot of them struggle with their tuition fees. This, she said discourages a lot of them.
As an association striving to mentor and motivate the younger generation of women, Mrs. Jobarteh said they brought together both the professional and student groups to make it easy for students to get close to the professionals and be mentored.
“We have learned that there are students who are great innovators and we are getting close to them, tap into their potentials and help them grow,’’ she stated.
The WiSTEM explained that the association’s plans include coming up with projects where the students will have the opportunity to build things, and organising conferences and seminars where their projects will be exhibited.
She said they also intend to do outreach programmes in which they will talk to women at the community and school levels.
For someone who has traveled out of the country, sat in the same class and interacted with engineers from different parts of the world, Mrs. Jobarteh believes a lot needs to be done for The Gambia to get there when it comes to STEM.
She lamented that funds are not being mobilized to develop the technical side coupled with a very little concentration. “We need to invest in it to be able to change the narrative,’’ she said.
