Technology is indisputably a man’s arena and a simple statistics show men are likely to gain 1 job for every 3 lost to technology. Majority of the women in the STEM courses are more likely to drop it for a rather deemed “feminine” degrees for myriads of reasons from community influence to cultural believe that makes science a boy’s club.
Now, as society becomes more gender equal year on year, women are expected to stand up and be counted. And the women thriving in STEM industry are continually mentoring, inspiring and motivating young girls willing to take the careers which is a good start.
Despite the fact that this gender gap in STEM careers has been created over time there is need to develop conscious development plans to avoid technology based exclusion and all these can be accomplished by creating an environment that makes it easy for the young women to fit in and prosper.
Here is a list of communities suitable for the women looking to kick start or influence their career in tech in Uganda.
Andela Uganda Cohorts
Andela has been around in Uganda since May 2017 but their impact on the technology ecosystems has been highly significant, they earlier had an all out women boot camp in their Cohort 5 program at the end of 2017. An initiative which helped encourage women to venture into tech and changed the narrative that tech is a male dominated field.
Word on street has it that they will be recruiting only women for their further programs but remember all these are just rumors since hey haven’t release an official statement saying so yet. From their official website, it shows applications for Uganda and Kenya are currently closed but hey, just to know when you go through to join the mentorship program, you are required to sign a four years contract with Andela in which they train, employ and give you access to materials to better your skills in programming.
You can find them at Plot 103 Kira Road Kampala, Uganda and have a chat with them about their various programs and plans they have for women looking to join their programs.
Women In Technology Uganda-WITU
Women in technology Uganda is an initiative that seeks to encourage, inspire and train more women in the tech field through networking, training, mentoring and partnering so as to increase the number of women in tech. They have a list of good programs in their catalog including WITU-Hub and Code girls among others.
They organise various Women boot camps in which they offer training on relevant digital skills. They host events where women can interact, share and create connections i.e. LEAP women Tech challenge.
Their offices is found on Plot 18 Kanjokya Street at the Kanjokya House building.
Zimba Women
This is a flagship of Zimba Group Ltd, a tech startup company providing capacity building for women in Science, Tech, engineering, and math. The enterprise also engages the participants in entrepreneurship training, mentorship, networking, and resource sharing.
We previously had a chat with Mary Helda Akongo, the Operations and Programs Manager and discussed a number of things including their involvement in tech so far in the country, training, past and future projects among other things.
Pollicy Data Ladies Meetup
Data Ladies meetup brings together women data enthusiasts from government, civil society, academia and the private sector to chat, discover and network on all things related data. The meetup is organized by Pollicy Uganda, an NGO that works with government, civil society and private sectors to re-design services around citizens needs and demand.
It can be a good start if you are a data enthusiast or just looking for data for your work, you will get equipped with many helpful tools and best practices for your data hunt. This years first edition will be next month, you can follow Pollicy on social media to keep updated with their programs and venue.
