Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1364335
OPINION 22.4.2021 Alexiei Dingli Prof Alexiei Dingli is a Professor of AI at the University of Malta and has been conducting research and working in the field of AI for more than two decades, assisting different companies to implement AI solutions. He forms part of the Malta.AI task-force, set up by the Maltese government, aimed at making Malta one of the top AI countries in the world 2 2 April is Girls in Infor- mation and Communi- cations Technology (ICT) day, but there isn't much to cele- brate since women only make up around 25% of the tech industry. Women are 45% more likely to quit within a year of taking a job, and they lack support to climb the corporate ladder. If we zoom on Europe, only 16.7% of the nearly 8.2 million ICT specialists are women, and on average, they earn 18.9% less than their male counterparts to do the same job. What's even worse is that this number is even lower than it was in the 80s, since the number of female ICT graduates was close to 40% back then. But women are essential for the ICT industry. If you were to ask me what is that one thing that women bring to the sec- tor, my reply would definitely be completeness. With all the effort that male software en- gineers put towards creating a good product, they will never cover all the aspects that a di- verse group brings to the table. It is simply impossible. is was further accentuated in McKinsey's study on why di- versity matters. ey claim that diverse companies hire better talent, retain workers, engage employees who perform better, and eventually get the compa- ny to earn more. It is relatively easy to see why. When you're hiring people, excluding female participants results in the automatic elim- ination of around 50% of peo- ple from your talent pool. In a globalised world fuelled with fierce competition, can you re- ally afford to lower your odds of finding the right talent? Companies that are open to recruiting a diverse workforce usually value their employees' wellbeing and have specific in- itiatives in place. ese might range from gym memberships to family-friendly measures. Let's not make the mistake of thinking that these are in some way associated with gender. In a world where both par- ents work, raising children is a joint responsibility, and fami- ly-friendly measures are essen- tial for both males and females. e knowledge that family is- sues are being dealt with effec- tively helps employees engage better; they can focus on their work and deliver. Of course, having happy employees re- sults in better earning for the company. is does not mean that men and women are the same be- cause they're not! And this is where the strength of having female employees lies. We live in a world full of biases, people are used to different customs, and some still believe in certain stereotypes. According to these stereotypes, tech is a man's world. But these harsh condi- tions made the few girls in tech more resilient and, in some cas- es, capable of achieving much more than their male coun- terparts. Of course, we have to pull down these barriers and usher more females into the tech world. Even without these moulds, girls offer much more to the tech industry, some- thing missing in a male-dom- inated industry. ey provide different perspectives, ideas and considerations. When we think about the personas using our applications, they can shed some light on the female mar- ket; their likes, dislikes, expec- tations, context, the baggage they bring, etc. But they can also offer incredible insights on the entire product by applying problem-solving and analytical methodologies, which might be different. And this, without di- minishing in any way, the tech- nical capabilities of females. In fact, the Australian Academy of Science conducted a study in 2020 which clearly showed that girls score the same as boys in mathematics and science. Even though girls are capable as much as boys, the fact re- mains that the industry is still dominated by males. is cre- ates an invisible artificial barri- er that might intimidate some girls in choosing this path. Of course, the stereotypical imag- es that have been hammered into these girls' minds do not help. Some guardians push girls away from the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers. ey are usually guided by gross misinformation, which portrays STEM careers as complex, highly mathemati- cal, less creative and boring. Some STEM careers fit in that description (like in any other field) but definitely not the ab- solute majority. We cannot deny that there exist complex projects in ICT, but STEM careers are vast and range from rocket scientists to user testers. It's really up to the individual to decide the level of complexity that she would like to deal with daily. Mathematics forms the ba- sis of most ICT projects, but this does not mean that every- one who works in tech needs to understand complicated mathematical functions or even be technical. Today we have libraries, which contain complex algorithms created by reputable labs which are tried and tested. To create a system, one only needs to use those li- braries rather than make them from scratch. Programming is becoming more accessible, with low-code or no-code in- itiatives sprouting worldwide, allowing anyone to write a pro- gram almost without coding. A STEM career that is less creative and boring is just a big fat lie. Most STEM careers deal with problem-solving; thus, creativity is a central ingredient in what they do. Most techies rack their brains, looking all over the place to find a solution. eir first port of call tends to be nature, and in fact, we have various algorithms (such as Swarm Intelligence) inspired by social insects like bees. We also look at how humans work! is led us to the development of Artificial Neural Networks, which are loosely based upon the human brain. But our re- search doesn't stop there; we look at philosophy, psycholo- gy, sociology and practically all the fields under the sun. We try to teach a machine how to talk, see the world, understand how it works. And if we're still lost, we take a dip into science fiction to get inspired by the world of tomorrow. e tech industry needs to do some soul searching. ey need to understand why wom- en retention is much lower, why gender discrimination still exists in our workplace, why women are still underrepre- sented and why we still have an ICT leadership gap. e in- dustry needs to wake up. is problem has been going on for way too long, and these compa- nies will soon start losing out if they don't do something about it! Notwithstanding these issues, there are many good organisa- tions, and thus, there is no rea- son for women not to choose a tech career. I dare say that STEM careers are more crea- tive and exciting than others. e stereotypes are untrue. Females have nothing less than their male counterparts. Such jobs tend to be highly flexi- ble, and companies go to great lengths to retain their talent. Techies tend to be highly ful- filled in their career because many of them have the liber- ty to work from where they please. Be it the office, their home, or even a beach in an exotic location. All they need is just a laptop and a wifi connec- tion. So what are you waiting to take the plunge and start a career in ICT? It's a woman's world: Opening up the ICT industry to women