Transcript Dia 1

To prevent technology bypassing women
Stimulating the Participation of Women
in ICTs in South Africa
International experiences
Status on the 8th of May 2006, Pretoria
Eija Leinonen
Marja-Leena Haataja
Oulu University, Finland
To prevent technology bypassing women
The contents of the presentation
and the International Position
Paper
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Introduction and background
Key words and meanings
Experiences of WomenIT
Experiences from other countries
Summary
Recommendations
To prevent technology bypassing women
Introduction and background 1(2)
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The Oulu University, Kajaani University Consortium implemented the
WomenIT–project 2001-2006 aiming at promoting women in industry
and technology and thereby dismantling segregation by gender as
Finland is one of the most segregated nations in Europe:
Only 18-20% of students and employed in technology area are women,
whereas in social and health care equivalent amount is 90%
25% of the leaders are women, but only 2-3% on the top positions and
only a few % in the technological field; the main sectors of women
leaders are human resources, culture, social and health care
Only 32-33% of the entrepreneurs are women and e.g. in Kainuu area
the equivalent amount is only 25% and in Oulu Region 30%
In the technological field only a few % of the entrepreneurs are women
To prevent technology bypassing women
Introduction and background 2(2)
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In spring 2005 the Embassy of Finland and the Finnish Council for Equality
brought together the WomenIT-team with Meraka Institute and TriGrammic
for exchanging knowledge and experiences: both countries need to
stimulate the contribution made by women in science, engineering and
technology and thereby both countries can benefit from a collaborative
study that would draw on the experiences already undertaken in Finland,
and support the more recently initiated efforts of the South Africa
The WomenIT team is responsible for the International Position Paper
which aims at compiling information of international experiences on the
issue in hand
The paper is in big part based on WomenIT experiences as the problem
behind WomenIT as well as the solutions developed in it are global and
can be exploited all over the world – WomenIT has had a very successful
mainstreaming and disseminating strategy
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Key words and meanings
• In order to clarify what we are talking about and to clarify the
issue itself and all the phenomena relating to it, the paper begins
with the definitions of some of the terms in question:
E.g.:
• Equal opportunities, gender equality
• Gender, gender stereotypes
• Gender blindness/neutrality/sensitivity
• Life cycle approach
• Role models
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Experiences of WomenIT 1(3)
What was WomenIT?
• A development, training and research project funded by the EU
ESF/Equal –initiative which aims at seeks preventing inequality and
discrimination in the labour market and to promote social inclusion, one
of its dimensions being the added value gained from international
cooperation
• WomenIT aimed at
 equal opportunities for women and men in work as well as in education
 supporting women and girls towards choices that are non-traditional for
their gender
 supporting the employment of women and girls in the fields of
technology and industry
 dismantling structures which generate inequality between sexes
To prevent technology bypassing women
Experiences of WomenIT 2(3)
What was WomenIT?
• WomenIT had national partners from different sectors of society from
local actors to decision makers, from early childhood education to
higher education as well as working life
• WomenIT it included over 40 local partner-projects mainly in Kainuu
and Oulu area: study groups, clubs, courses, training for teachers
and other experts, material development and production, research,
mainstreaming etc.
• WomenIT had international cooperation with British, Danish, German
and French partners
• WomenIT has finished it activities in spring 2006 and has moved to
post-mainstreaming phase
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Experiences of WomenIT 3(3)
What was so special about WomenIT?
• Influence on structures and operating models that maintain job
segregation by gender and incure inequality in other areas of
society as well
• Preventative instead of corrective actions
• Life cycle approach: from early childhood education into harmonious
working life
• Involvement of local actors on every level of the project
• Systematic mainstreaming strategy and implementation
• International cooperation
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Experiences from other countries
• A lot of work for promoting women in ICTs has been made all over
the world, but most of them seem to focus on promoting the use
of ICT of women; although there are quite a few initiatives of
different networks and organizations to promote women into
SET/ICT sector
• Related data and material has not been systematically compiled
and therefore the information available is very much fragmented
in nature
• The International Position Paper compiles some of the data and
experiences and highlights a few examples from different
continents – in this presentation a couple of them are mentioned
To prevent technology bypassing women
Experiences from other countries
- Europe -
• European Union policy:
 the EU has promoted gender equality throughout its history and it
has reaffirmed its commitment to gender equality in e.g. the social
agenda for 2005-2010 as all reports show that gender gaps are
still strong in Europe
 Project funding is one of the (and one of the most used) methods
for promoting equality in the EU
• UKRC: Karen Sadler will introduce
• Germany (mentoring)
• France (careers)
To prevent technology bypassing women
Experiences from other countries
- Asia •
Korea: The Korean National Institute for Supporting Women in Science
and Technology (NIS-WIST) was established in February 2005
 provides high quality information and services on training, recruitment,
and research in systematic bases
 the objectives of NIS-WIST are to create an environment in which
women can play a leading role in S&T, to propose policy development
for recruiting and supporting women in S&T, to centralize capabilities of
women in S&T, to boost national competitiveness, and to provide
world-class education and training on a systematic basis
• China:
 A study by Jiehua Huang on career development of women managers
in ICT
To prevent technology bypassing women
Experiences from other countries
- Africa • Women's ICT-Based Enterprise for Development -project coordinated by
the University of Manchester
 purpose was to help increase the number of sustainable ICT-based
enterprises run by groups of poor women in developing countries
 the project included twelve case studies of women who have set up their
own IT sector micro-enterprise in Mozambique, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, India,
Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia
 the project also launched a practical guide handbook reflecting on good
practice in researching women's ICT-based enterprise for development.
• Nakaseke Telecentre in Uganda
 for the development of the CEEWA (Council for Economic Empowerment
for Women of Africa) project on empowering women entrepreneurs
through ICTs: to have an access on information about prices, markets,
and credit as well as to gain new business skills through ICTs
To prevent technology bypassing women
Experiences from other countries
- Africa • Uganda School-Based Telecenters: An Approach to Rural Access
to ICTs
 objectives were introducing ICTs in the delivery of educational
content & providing communities with access to communication
facilities and ICT-training in after-school hours
 schoolgirls were trained and hired to works as assistants which
might encourage them to enter ICT field and did help encourage
their mothers to use the facilities
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Summary at this point
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Dispersed data
A lot of work has been done for promoting women in ICTs but mainly on the use of
ICT, not so much on having SET/ICT sector as a career
It is important to see the structures and mechanisms which generate segregation
by gender of the labor market, the stereotypes, the upbringing, the education
system as well as the conditions of working life etc. – lack of initiatives and
projects in this area
“Why do women need ICTs?
Women need ICTs for the same reasons as men: to get more information to carry
out their productive, reproductive, and community roles; to conduct their
businesses, as a service of employment and to work in the ICT industry; to find
resources for themselves, their families, their work, and their communities; and to
have a voice in their lives, their community, their government, and the larger world
that shares their issues and problems. In summary, they need ICTs to function in a
digital world.” - The ICT Toolkit/World bank, Engendering ICT
To prevent technology bypassing women
Life after WomenIT
Mainstreaming and further development of experiences and results of WomenIT, both on
horizontal and vertical level:
 Consultation and training for all ESF/Equal round 2 –projects 2006-2007; funded and
ordered by the Ministry of Labour: e.g. mainstreaming of equality, regional trainings on
equality
 Moninainen Woima -project 2006-2007, funded by ESF
Part 1: Consultation of equality plan in Kainuu: the authorities and enterprises; equality
training for officials and politicians
Part 2: Further development of Woimala Resource Center for Women in Kajaani: focus
on entrepreneurship, especially on technology field; entrepreneurship training for high
school girl students; technology courses for female entrepreneurs
Part 3: Training for female immigrants on Finnish society and equality
 Continuing activities of local partners: mainstreaming and further development on what
was accomplished in WomenIT
 International network of Women and Information society
 Transnational co-operation with e.g. South-Africa and Russia