Women in STEM: Using reskilling to address the gender gap
From the World Economic Forum:
The Fourth Industrial Revolution marks a new and exciting chapter in human development, bringing profound changes to the way we work and live. But every opportunity inevitably comes with challenges – and none are greater than the urgent need to empower one billion people with better education, skills and economic opportunities by 2030 to create a more inclusive and future-ready global economy.
Bridging the gender gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) fields is critical to achieving this goal. The global information technology industry, for example, is worth trillions of dollars and is expected to continue to grow by up to 8% per annum in the years to come. Despite this trajectory, women comprise less than one-third of employees (28.2%) within the industry and only 22% of artificial intelligence (AI) professionals. If this glaring inequality is left unaddressed, it will inevitably prevent innovation and economic growth.
Reskilling provides an opportunity to rethink how we are planning for the future of work. We must reconsider not only how we work, but who works. If the Fourth Industrial Revolution is rewriting the rules of work, now is the time to rewrite the rules of opportunity.