Tag: gender gap

Back when computers filled entire rooms, diversity was barely a conversation. The gender gap in technology remains significant. According to the Skillsoft 2024 Women in Tech Report, women make up less than a third of the global technology workforce. Currently, only 25% of the industry consists of women, with lower numbers in artificial intelligence (22%) and engineering (28%).

South African women are closing the gender gap in entrepreneurial activity. Driven by many factors ranging from perceived opportunity to job scarcity, they are starting businesses which in turn creates employment opportunities for others, with the country boasting one of the highest proportion of women-led companies employing 20 or more people globally.

At the current rate of progress, the World Economic Forum says it will take 102 years to close the gender gap in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is therefore vital to ensure girls have equal opportunities not only in the workplace but in school to accelerate closing the gender gap.

Women entrepreneurs are on the rise globally, with this wave sweeping over the African and Middle Eastern region. Historically, Africa has led the world in terms of numbers of women business owners, with countries like Uganda and Ghana – leading the way.

The agricultural sector across sub-Saharan Africa is critical to local and regional economies as a developmental base for food security and employment. Within it, there remains an invisible force driving productivity in the region and across the world.

What you don’t measure, you don’t achieve. It is the reality in just about every organisation. However, despite the progress in gender equality over the years, issues of gender mainstreaming in the workplace are still commonly seen as a sundry matter – and this needs to change.

Gender equality is a basic human right, yet progress towards equal rights for women remains elusive globally.

Despite a number of studies confirming that gender-diverse companies perform better, gender equality and lack of inclusiveness remain a paramount issue in the IT world, and women are still significantly underrepresented in tech. Even though the situation is improving, the gender gap in the IT industry is still prominent.

The world over companies are facing enormous pressure under the ‘new or never normal’, as the COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting, and in some cases, deepening existing workplace inequalities. Gender mainstreaming in the workplace still has a long way to go and the time is now that we give it the attention it deserves – not only through women’s month, but throughout the year.

The task of re-skilling millions of workers may feel overwhelming. By 2022 alone, 75 million jobs will probably be displaced across 20 major economies, while 133 million new ones will spring up in industries that are only just gaining traction. At the same time, it’s estimated that nearly two-thirds of children who started school in 2016 will go on to have jobs that don’t yet exist.