It's 2019 yet there are still a lot of things we need to work in our society specially the important role of women in development in the field usually dominated by men. We have already opened doors for women in many industries such as education, finance, and management, but in term of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (or STEM), the number of women may have been overlooked but they are now coming out to prove their worth and makes groundbreaking actions and discoveries in their respective specializations.
In the recent forum led by the International Labour Organization (ILO) which also marks the United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in STEM, brought together four women leaders whose works made an impact to STEM here in the Philippines.
The four esteemed speakers -- women-leaders in their own right -- are Aileen Judan-Jiao, the President and Country Manager of IBM; Ambe Tierro, the Senior Managing Director, Global Artificial Intelligence of Accenture Technologies; Ma. Cristina 'Beng' Coronel, President and CEO of Pointwest Technologies; and Michie Ang, Founding Director of Women Who Code.
There are also esteemed guests who also joined in the conversation promoting the ries and roles of women in key sectors. Among them were Carlos Ma. Mendoza, Head of Banking and Deputy SCO of J.P. Morgan Chase; Deputy Director General Rosanna Urdaneta from the Office of the Deputy Director General for Policies and Planning of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA); Undersecretary John Henry Naga from the Office of the Undersecretary for Management and Operations of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT); and Philip Roskamp, Public Affairs Counselor of the Embassy of the United States in the Philippines.
The task of getting more women to try STEM is still a big task and would really need people that girls would look up to such as the speakers. They even invited students for a special viewing of "Hidden Figures," a film about the unsung mathematical heroes of NASA who were discriminated because they are women and African American. With their persistence and calculations, it paved the way for a more successful launch and space projects.
The challenge still continues locally and internationally for equality, but there are still a lot of factors that should be considered especially society is affected by norms, tradition, prejudices and many more. Working with the international organization like the ILO provides opportunities and forum like these which sparks interests which eventually leads to fruitful STEM careers.
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