Female technologists on Tuesday urged the younger females to acquire digital skills to enable them compete favourably with their male counterparts.
The technologists gave the advice during the International Girls in ICT Day 2017, organised by E-Business Life Communication Ltd. in Lagos.
The Chief Executive Officer of E-Business Life, Mrs Ufuoma Emuophedaro, said that acquiring digital skills would make the female gender consider careers in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field.
Emuophedaro said that with 95 per cent of all jobs now having a digital component, digital skills were no longer just an advantage but essential.
She said that the future of the ICT sector promised to be an exciting one, hence, the need to take advantage of it.
According to her, there are uncharted waters open to creativity, innovation and entirely new ways of working, interacting that should appeal to women and men alike.
“One thing is clear: the problem is not getting women to use ICT. They use it all the time, intensely and creatively, often more than men do.
“From Silicon Valley to the slums of Africa, Nigeria inclusive, women use these tools to improve opportunities and improve lives.
“Currently, a lot of teenage girls use computers and the internet at rates similar to boys, but they are five times less likely to consider a technology-related career.
“The problem is that we do not have enough women in ICT careers. Women are less than one in three working in the sector; and disproportionately in lower status jobs,” she said.
Emuophedaro said that every woman should have the tools to take control of her life and ICT skills uniquely offered growing employment, innovation and opportunity.
The Vendor Specialist, Vodacom Business Nigeria, Ms Adeyinka Adeyemo, said that taking up careers in ICT was an important decision for girls and women.
Adeyemo said that girls should be eager for knowledge in ICT, because they are competing with the male gender.
She urged them to go an extra mile to seek knowledge beyond what they were taught in the class.
According to her, the females should get support systems, whereby they engage with other female students to engender careers in ICT.
“If you want to be successful in life, go outside your comfort zone and get a role model that will inspire you to take up the career.
“Be your own cheer leader, encourage and celebrate yourself, especially when you are going into male-specific careers,” she said.
The Brand Manager of SystemSpecs, Mrs Jetty Olafumihan, said that there were software, data, cloud, engineering careers, among others in ICT.
Olafumihan said that each of the careers in ICT had opportunities for the girls to explore.
She said that technology was moving fast such that in a couple of years something new would emerge, hence, opportunities abound for the future.