MINISTER FOR WOMEN, CHILDREN AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION AT THE LAUNCH OF FIJI'S FIRST STEM CAMP

Minister for Education, Honorable Rosy Akbar, 
Graduate Women (Fiji) Vice President, Ms. Maria Ronna Luna Pastorizo-Sekiguchi, 
Founder Nanogirls Lab - Dr Michelle Dickinson, 
STEM Camp Instructors
Parents
Girls
Ladies and Gentlemen

A very good afternoon,

It is such a pleasure for me to be here with you all this afternoon, to especially speak to you on a topic that is close to my heart. Education is an essential means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to fully participate in the development process. Sustainable development is only possible when women and men enjoy equal opportunities to reach their potential. 

Fiji as a nation has taken great strides in the education sector, with the Fijian Government placing great emphasis on building a smart and educated society, and the political will being reflected in the Education Ministry receiving over a billion dollars in this fiscal year; and programs that ensure that girls and boys, men and women of Fiji have equal access to education from primary to tertiary levels. The opportunities now available for Fijians to access tertiary education is like never before and one indicator of this is that since the introduction of TELS in 2014, the number of graduates from USP has increased two folds between 2014-2017 compared to their statistics of graduates from 2010-2013. 

I wish to thank the Graduate Women Fiji for making an event like this not only possible, but a priority. The Graduate Women Fiji, with its aim to further the development of education for women, improve the status of women and children, protect human rights and promote peace has really helped a lot of young women to undertake higher education, and nurture understanding, international cooperation and friendship among women graduates. They also undertake advocacy and consultancies for the solution of problems in areas of public life and participation in decision making at local, national and international levels. And very importantly, the Graduate Women Fiji sponsors conferences, seminars, workshops, research, projects, training programs for women and events such as this STEM Summer Camp for Girls to achieve their aims and I highly commend the Graduate Women Fiji for the great work. 

It is widely acknowledged that Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics or STEM careers are male dominated. Percentage of women in STEM statistics globally reveal that just 15% of Engineering graduates, 19% of technology and mathematics and 38% of Computer Studies are females. Locally, from primary to high school, girls and boys do not significantly differ in their abilities in mathematics and science, but do differ in their interest and confidence in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects. Up until the recent past, we would see the entire class of girls choosing Home Economics over Technical Drawing or Vernacular/Secretarial Studies over Computer Science, wouldn’t we? But it is truly pleasing to know that this is now changing. The rates of science and engineering course taking for females largely shifts at the undergraduate level and that is where gender disparities begin to emerge.

In an era when women are increasingly prominent in medicine, law, and business, why are there so few women scientists and engineers one may ask? Some researches present compelling evidence that profiles key findings that point to environmental and social barriers — including stereotypes, gender bias, and the climate of science and engineering departments in colleges and universities — that continue to block women’s progress in STEM. Nonetheless, more than ever before, girls are studying and excelling in science and mathematics; for example the female graduates for STEM at USP had consistently increased from 2010-2015. Yet the dramatic increase in girls’ educational achievements in scientific and mathematical subjects has not been matched by similar increases in the representation of women working as engineers and computing professionals. Just 12 percent of engineers worldwide are women, and the number of women in computing has fallen from 35 percent in 1990 to just 26 percent today.

In Fiji, there are not many female role models in the STEM fields that can show our girls that they can become successful in these male-dominated sectors. And the time to change that is now and this year in particular is dedicated to call on change in terms of women’s participation in innovation and technology, especially with this year’s International Women’s Day theme being, “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change” as well.

Simply put, diversity, both inherent and acquired, helps drive innovation. We know from research that diverse teams are more effective at problem solving, when different voices, viewpoints, expertise and life experiences are brought to bear. As women remain dramatically underrepresented across all STEM studies and careers, how do we make strides to close the gender gap and fuel the next generation of female innovators? At a time when technology continues to transform the way we live, work and learn, the need to close the STEM gender gap is more critical than ever. We are delighted to endorse this project by Graduate Women (Fiji). By doing so, we acknowledge and support GWF as well as other women's organizations in their tremendous efforts to help advance gender equality in our nation. I am confident that the summer camp will change the outlook of these young females on STEM careers and there is no better time to educate our young generation of the opportunities and needs of these sectors than now. 

Educating a woman brings about self-esteem and confidence. It also promotes active participation in her society and women need to be more involved in educational policy decision making process. It takes the collective effort of government and society in creating equal opportunities for education, and increasing the enrolment of the girl child into schools. This in itself reduces poverty. In the long run, an educated woman will actively play a better role in directing her children through life’s journey.

Just like other areas of women’s development, we recognize that organizations like Graduate Women Fiji have an important role to play, especially in terms of advocating for change. We also recognize the expertise of NGOs in certain areas and welcome collaborative efforts to improve the status of women in our country. 

Ladies and gentlemen, we need to take some crucial steps to encourage women to enter and stay in STEM careers, such as highlighting the work of women in STEM, redesigning our education systems, promote STEM's role in problem solving, collecting adequate and accurate data to expose gender gaps in the STEM fields, and rethinking the hiring and retention process. Many of the issues faced by women in STEM fields are common to women in any workplace, but STEM jobs have particular challenges. We need to aggressively address these challenges to ensure that we have the best talent engaged, and enough people to fill these key jobs. Our ability to be competitive and create a secure future depends on it. But the first step to all this is motivating more young females and creating an equitable environment for them to enter and excel in the STEM education. We need to stop telling our girls that they cannot build roads, they cannot design buildings, they cannot innovate the fastest car, or that they cannot do math because that is what boys are good at. We need to start giving our children more examples of women who broke barriers in the STEM fields. 

With these words I wish the Graduate women Fiji and all the participants all the very best for the STEM Summer Camp for Girls 2019. 

Thank you