By Fatou Sanneh
The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) field is often a male-dominated field where most women feel they do not belong to.
According to research published by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), attracting and retaining more women in the STEM workforce will maximise innovation, creativity, and competitiveness. Scientists and engineers are working to solve some of the most vexing challenges of our time finding cures for diseases like cancer and malaria, tackling global warming, providing people with clean drinking water, developing renewable energy sources, and understanding the origins of the universe. Engineers design many of the things we use daily buildings, bridges, computers, cars, wheelchairs, and X-ray machines. When women are not involved in the design of these products, needs and desires unique to women may be overlooked.
The Gambia is not short of such women trail blazers in the realm of Science Techology Engineering and Mathematics. One Gambian woman defying the odds in this regard is Mrs. Kodou Jeng Gaye; a phenomenal woman who is breaking barriers in the tech world.
Madam Jeng Gaye is a Telecommunications Engineer professional who over the years has built a progressive career in STEM specializing in transmission, both fiber optic transmission and microwave radio transmission.
She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Telecommunication Engineering from Ghana Communication University College and currently enrolled in an MBA program at the University of The Gambia to better equip her management skills.
In an exclusive interview with Gambia Daily, Madam Jeng Gaye posited that STEM plays a leading role in a country’s development; but that it will have less impact if more than half of the country’s populations, who are women, are not involved in the process.
She explained that she became a tech enthusiast during her high school days, a brilliant science student who was excellent in both math and science, which are great recipes for science and technology.
It is believed that the environment plays a part in shaping girls’ interests and motivation in science and technology worldwide. Lack of role models as well as social bias has greatly affected the progress and career choices of girls in STEM.
Furthermore, she explained that some of the reasons why women are not as involved in STEM as men are our social stereotypes and consequently lack of female STEM role models and mentors.
“We want to change this by making female STEM role models and mentors visible and accessible to young girls,” she stressed.
With more than two decades of experience in STEM, Madam Jeng Gaye said that she is ready to mentor young people, especially girls to promote the study and practice of STEM, an opportunity she did not have growing up as there was no female mentor to look up to. Hence she and her fellow women in STEM created an organization called WOMEN IN STEM GAMBIA.
According to Madam Jeng Women in STEM Gambia intends to create a sisterhood network that will provide resources, instill confidence and a can-do attitude in its members, allowing them to become professionals and contribute significantly to the country’s development.
“We will therefore match each of our members who are students or young professionals with a mentor. This is what we call the pairing of mentors and mentees. The mentors will provide assistance and career guidance,” she explained.
Madam Jeng Gaye unlike many was lucky to have her brother as a mentor. “My brother, Adama Jeng, was my role model. I was fortunate to have someone like him with a background in STEM to mentor me in the formative years of my young adult life and career,’’ she said.
According to UNESCO, women made up 17.5% of the tech workforce worldwide and 30% in Sub-Saharan Africa, this rose to 33.5 in 2018. South Africa features among the 20 top countries in the world for the share of professionals with skills in artificial intelligence and machine learning with women representing 28% of South African professionals.
Women are steadily gaining momentum and increasing in number in the STEM fields, however, due to vast gap with their men counterparts, this progress is hardly noticed.
According to the AAUW, persistent stereotypes about women’s intellectual abilities, reinforce a wide gender gap.
Family commitment is another pull factor for women pursuing careers in science and technology.
Research has shown that being single is a good predictor that a woman will be hired for a tenure-track job and promoted. Married women in STEM appear to have a disadvantage compared with married men in relation to tenure and promotion decisions, especially if married women start having children.
“As a woman, especially in such a demanding field, there are instances when I have to choose between work and family. For example, during the 2006 ECOWAS summit that was held in the Gambia, my daughter was less than a year old and I had to be away for workmost of the time. That was very difficult for me, but I thank my husband for his continuous support and encouragement,’’ Mrs. Jeng Gaye explained.
With support from family, especially her husband, Madam Jeng Gaye has pulled through, breaking barriers and stereotypes of being a woman in a male-dominated field. With dedication and hardwork, Madam Jeng Gaye is now Senior Manager of Transmission at GAMCEL, proving that no profession is tough for women.
