Chronicle Editor
Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
THE girl child is often stereotyped as shying away from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and careers in preference of commercials and arts.
Even those who choose stem careers are hardly celebrated as they are dominated by their male counterparts in the field.
Hardly do female engineers, doctors, technicians dominate influential positions as they are suffocated by their male counterparts despite women being the majority in society.
An information communication expert Mrs Victoria Nxumalo (37) said this has not inspired girls to take up stem careers as they fail to find inspiration and motivation in such fields.
She said for girls to take up stem careers they need to see other women doing the same jobs.
This has led her to establish The Girls in Stem Trust, an organisation whose aim is to empower girls into taking up stem careers.
She formed her organisation in 2018 and has set up an ambitious target to recruit a million girls into taking up stem careers by 2030.
Mrs Nxumalo said the world in the fourth industrial revolution driven by science and technology and the girl child in Zimbabwe cannot be left behind. She said being stemitised is no longer an option but mandatory as businesses are trading online.
“The Girls in Stem Trust is a depiction of a personal journey being a woman in stem, a woman in technology myself for 15 years. It was a bit disheartening when I discovered that a lot of women don’t take up technology and stem careers. If they do, we don’t really know what happens to them, they disappear or get chewed up somewhere in the system,” she said.
“So, in 2018 we started Girls in Stem Trust to say we need to be on a mission to get as many young women and girls to be involved in stem in Zimbabwe. We really are on a broader mission to get 1 million girls into stem careers by 2030 and this is in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”
Mrs Nxumalo, a Bulawayo resident, has offices in the city centre with a bit of furniture and computers used by her team.
She said the Covid-19 pandemic has already heightened the need for members of the public to be digitally connected.
“We realised that when we are talking about the fourth industrial revolution, if you are not digitally adaptive and not switched on in terms of technology you are going to be left behind. Covid-19 brought out this glaring inconsistency in how women and young girls are not where they should be as far as digitalisation literacy and digital skills is concerned,” she said.
“Following the outbreak of Covid-19 a lot of people were supposed to have businesses online and shift work to online methods. But most people were grappling and struggling with that.”
Mrs Nxumalo said her organisation has adopted a catch them strategy targeting children who are 11-years-old who are taken through career mentorship until they are 25 years of age.
She said her organisation has even roped in some professional women in stem careers to speak with young girls and inspire them to take up stem careers.
Mrs Nxumalo said they have also engaged schools to reach out to more learners.
“We have engaged quite a number of schools. I’m sure we have reached over 150 schools across the country. We do this Africa Code Week Initiative through the digital skills and online collaboration teaching tools. So, what we do, because of Covid-19, we have taken advantage of this training virtually,” said Mrs Nxumalo.
“We have reached people as far as Masvingo, Victoria Falls and Bindura to attend our trainings. We have tried to go far and wide and the reception has been great.”
She said in her programming they are also working with mathematics and science teachers who are key in implementing the uptake of science subjects by learners.
Mrs Nxumalo said her organisation also works with regional and international institutions which share a similar vision.
“We have also been privileged to work very well with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. It has been very supportive; they have availed teachers for training even for the female Africa Code Week Women Empowerment programme. We are now on the second national cohort of that programme and we do it in partnership with the ministry of education,” said Mrs Nxumalo.
She said even the private sector has bought into her idea and several companies are offering training opportunities for some of the girls to have a field experience on the courses on offer.
Mrs Nxumalo said even professionals have taken refresher courses with her organisation.
She said The Girls in Stem Trust and herself have won several accolades in recognition of the ground-breaking innovations and initiatives to uplift the girl child.
“We have been noticed globally and we have been nominated at the women tech global awards network for the upskill and reskill programme of the year. We were finalists in that. In my personal capacity in the same awards, I was elected mentor of the year for some of these initiatives. We are really excited considering that we are in our fourth year with the traction that we get and we have been able to train over 3 000 young women and girls in various digital skills,” she said.
Mrs Nxumalo said she was working with other organisations to reach out to girls in rural areas.
One of the girls who has benefited from The Girls in Stem Trust organisation Miss Tatenda Fungura (22) said she has become digitally literate since joining the organisation.
“It’s been an amazing journey so far. I have been with this organisation for two years now. I have grown professionally and personally. I have managed to acquire a lot of skills from this organisation. While I’m studying social work at Africa University in Mutare and for some people they might say the course is totally different from being The Girls in Stem Trust but these two are intertwined. I have learnt to be digitally literate and attentive to detail,” said Miss Fungura. – @nqotshili
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