While many organizations attempt to increase the number of women in the workforce, there is still a disparity between the number of women in the workplace compared with men, especially in the tech industry. As of 2021, women held only about 25% of jobs in the technology industry. Further studies show that the number of female software engineers has gone up by only 2% in the last 21 years.
As an organization, we are passionate about using modern technology tools to make data-driven decision-making to strengthen health systems across Africa. To ensure the sustainability of our interventions, we work to increase tech talent in the countries we work in. In 2016, we launched the eHealth Africa Academy in Guinea to develop technical talent that would maintain and improve the disease surveillance applications we introduced in the country during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. In 2020, we relaunched the eHA Academy in Kano, Nigeria to address the needs of the growing tech ecosystem in Kano and neighboring cities.
We completed successful in-person cohorts in Kano and when the COVID-19 pandemic started we switched to a virtual format which allowed us to attract even more participants from across Africa. With the influx of new participants, we expected the number of women who applied to eHA Academy to increase, however the percentage of women still remained at approximately 20%. This low percentage was troubling to us because as an organization, we are committed to building a more diverse and equitable workplace and have implemented strategies to increase the number of women in our workforce.
It was important to us to increase the number of women trained by the Academy, so we decided to host an all-female cohort of the Academy to remove any barriers preventing women from applying. The reception of the all-female cohort was overwhelmingly positive and the number of female applicants increased exponentially. This all-female cohort started in January, and I spoke to some of the participants as they round up their classroom training and prepare for their internship placements.
Safinaz Mubarak
El Behaira, Egypt
Safinaz is a GIS specialist who intends to apply the knowledge she has gotten from the Academy to become a better programmer.
Her motivations…
Choosing this industry was a challenge for me. In the area I live in right now, they expect girls to get married after high school and not pursue high learning. But I chose survey and Maths which is a field dominated by men.
I wanted to expand my career by gaining new knowledge. At the moment, I work as a GIS specialist, and we use programming. So I joined the academy to learn how to do better programming and apply it in my daily tasks. Someone once said to me ``I couldn't become a programmer because I was a girl, that was all the motivation I needed to become one.
On her experience so far with the Academy…
I have no regrets. One thing I loved about the academy is that if you have the basic requirements, you will get all the help you need to do well. It was difficult being a part of an academy before now, so I am grateful I was selected. I didn’t know they would select me because I was not a programmer and I studied geography.
On her outlook on her future career in tech…
Before this time, I would have said I do not have equal chances with men. But with the progress being made with bridging the gap, I feel confident that my chances are high.
As a medical doctor, the eHA Academy was Cynthia’s only way of venturing into the tech industry.
Her Motivations…
Coming from the medical field and now getting into the tech industry, I think the system favors men because there are more men in the workplace. I thought that with the increasing number of women getting into tech careers, we were going to see a change, but I feel there is a disparity and that translates into the support and opportunities given to women.
For me, I chose eHA Academy because I was looking into getting into the tech space and while speaking to people who work in the industry, I found out about the eHA Academy through someone on LinkedIn. I looked into it and I liked it. It includes not only coding but also encompasses healthcare. That’s a big deal for me since I want a career in both tech and medicine and eHA Academy was the perfect platform for me.
Dr. Cynthia Nabukanda Waliaula
Nairobi, Kenya
What she does to challenge the stereotypes…
As an African woman, I am always in the minority, even in my workplace. Diversity and inclusion have been really important to me. The way I have done that has been recognizing first that there needs to be a more diverse and inclusive environment in technology. How that works is for other women and girls to see people like them doing well in that field. When you see people like you doing things, you know you can be like them. I also amplify the voices of women through my Podcast. We need to tackle diversity and inclusion from the grassroots and not at the top.
On her experience so far with the Academy…
It has been very interesting and good. We started with simple things and now we are building more complex things. One of my favorite things about studying in the eHA Academy is the support that you get. We have mentors and others ready to step in to help. We also have platforms where people can share problems and roadblocks and get the help they need. I will recommend it to more women and girls.
Joy Alikali
Ibadan, Nigeria
From listening to her brother and his friends talk passionately about the tech industry, Joy developed an interest in becoming a tech guru.
Her Motivations…
I am tech-savvy; I am good with gadgets. Also, when I stayed with my brother after school who was a software engineer, I got interested. I got exposed to terms like front-end, back-end, and product management. I started trying out things on my own and I found out that in the tech industry, you can build value for yourself and solve problems.
What she does to challenge the stereotypes…
First, I will speak up because now I know better. I know what I offer. I will also encourage awareness to be made against gender biases. Also, if I am in a position of influence, I try to encourage equity on both sides.
On her experience so far with the Academy…
The journey has been an interesting one. Let me be honest, when I first started, we did the first challenge “Hello world”, and had to wait for the next challenge. I thought the academy was going at a slow pace, but I didn’t know we were in for it. When the next challenge came up, it had a lot to do with HTML and CSS. Our mentors have been of great help. Any time you reach out, they will help. They broke down software development in such a way that even a little child will understand. I will recommend this academy and cohort for anyone who has an interest in getting into the tech industry.
Getting more women into the tech industry requires several approaches that will ensure that more women are interested, considered, and prepared for tech roles. While we are far from balancing the gender disparity in the world, with initiatives like these, we are at least a step closer to breaking the bias that exists in the tech industry.
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