Let’s talk ABAWT Women in Tech Challenging the Status Quo

March was all about Women’s History Month, celebrating the many women who make a difference in STEM, in our lives and even more especially in Africa. We highlighted exactly that in an amazing conversation with Tosin Durotoye, Oladunni Stähler, Elodie Nonga and Temitayo Sojebe during our Women in Tech Challenging the Status Quo event where we were blessed with an amazing audience from Dar el Salaam, Mannheim, Toronto, Munich, or Johannesburg, to name a few.

We highlighted a few key statements from the session.

Elodie on missed opportunities — “people are limited in their thinking of the different areas technology affects. They might miss GreenTech, Big Data, Cyber Security and only think about social media management as an opportunity to work in tech”.

Temitayo and Oladunni on representation. Temitayo — “Women (in Africa) need to remove their limitations and change their mindset. Don’t say no. Take the opportunity and figure it out after!” while creating more representation. Oladunni — “Representation matters and this is showcased differently in different continents as well”

Tosin on how to bring more women to the frontlines of tech and leadership — “Mentorship is good but Sponsorship is even better! Being a woman in the position of power means looking out for other women, and men also bear the responsibility to sponsor women to push for gender equity. Hire me based on my qualities and pay me equally as well!”

Our event finished with a beautiful statement by one of our viewers Dennis, who joined the event: “A remark from a father of — in my opinion — the most beautiful female human being ever seen the light of this world, and as an ambitious professional: I think there are so many cultural and behavioural patterns girls get told and observe from an early age and when they grow up. The difference I often times see in grown up women and men is that women are more shy and decent than men when it comes to opportunities and chances which open up for them.”

So +100 for Temitayo’s final words: “Don’t be shy, jump in when opportunities show up! It’s important to be conscious and to develop self-awareness, in order to catch such patterns and conditioning when they show up and to stick to the initial plan instead.”

If you weren’t able to join the session, you can catch up on our YouTube channel.