BIHL, BIUST polish GEMS
Pauline Dikuelo | Tuesday December 13, 2022 06:00
The GEMS mentorship programme seeks to promote the participation of girls in STEM by providing a prospect for girls to flourish in STEM subjects.
The 2021–2022 GEMS programme had female senior secondary students from Maun, Shakawe, Ghanzi Senior Secondary Schools, Matsha College, Mahupu and Tsabong Unified Secondary schools.
These were students majoring in pure single science and aspiring to go into STEM professions and careers. Commenting during the graduation BIHL Trust Chairperson, Ngwatshi Enyatseng said the essence of the programme is to create environments that encourage girls and help them know that science careers are within their reach.
“As these girls excel in the STEM space, they will foster legacies from the grassroots that other young ladies will emulate. The GEMS programme is one way of improving livelihoods in society using educators who are in a vantage position to assist in nurturing a growth mindset and dispel stereotypes that discourage girls from becoming scientists and mathematicians,” she said.
According to Enyatseng, as the BIHL Trust, she strongly believes that gender equity and the empowerment of women are fundamental towards working to achieve an inclusive society and sustainable economic growth.
She said this prospective approach aims to support girls' advancement and reinforce the idea that skills can be acquired rather than remain constant and unchangeable. “The environment that BIUST has built encourages science and mathematics among girls.
These activities are essential for teaching female students to experiment, think critically, solve problems, and persistently ask why and what comes next,” she added. On his part, deputy BIUST Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Professor Elisha Shemang said the STEM culture must embrace diversity and inclusiveness, particularly of women. He said for research and innovation to advance, it is essential to attract and keep women in STEM fields. “The importance of fostering STEM innovation and STEM-based industries in a developing country cannot be overstated.
These sectors of the economy are crucial for development. Our goal at BIUST is to generate top-tier research and innovation in the fields of science, engineering, and technology that will foster a diversified knowledge-based economy and industry growth. The gender gap needs to be reduced in order for this mission to be completely realised and eventually closed,” he said.
The programme was being hosted against the backdrop of an economy that is transitioning from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based one, driven by technological advancement.
To register significant progress in this regard, emphasis should be made on issues of inclusiveness of women in science-related careers. The two organisations collaborated to promote gender equity in access to STEM educational opportunities.
The BIHL-BIUST collaboration on this initiative was borne from the firm's belief that the GEMS mentorship programme will groom change makers, who will in the future also successfully and collectively tackle the task of empowering those that come after them.