The gender gap in the science, technology, engineering, maths and ICT (STEM-ICT) field appears to be closing in South Africa, with more girls than boys participating in the Institute of IT Professionals SA (IITPSA )schools Talent Search for the second consecutive year.
The annual Computer Olympiad Talent Search is an initiative of the institute designed for school learners of all ages to help them develop the problem-solving and computational abilities they need for all STEM-ICT subjects.
This year, more than 16 700 learners from 174 schools nationwide participated in the challenge, with girls slightly outnumbering boys overall in the provinces of Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Western Cape. The Eastern Cape saw a noteworthy 50% increase in the number of girls participating compared to last year.
IITPSA president, Admire Gwanzura, explains that the Talent Search offers learners early exposure to the computational thinking and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The challenge comprises problems relating to abstraction, decomposition, optimisation, manipulation of data, sorting, searching, identifying patterns, and many other algorithms used in subjects like mathematics, science, IT and CAT, as well as in the humanities and sport to solve everyday problems.
He notes that the increase in the number of girls participating is encouraging since certain STEM fields – and the ICT sector in particular – have long sought to close gender gaps in the workplace.
“The IITPSA and many other organisations have been encouraging girls and young women to consider careers in STEM-ICT for years,” Gwanzura says. “In some regions, girls and young women appeared hesitant to enter these sectors. However, we now see a strong cohort of girls embracing STEM-ICT, which bodes well for our future skills pipeline.”