Communications and Digitalisation Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has launched the Seats for Ladies in Stem Initiative (S4LIS).

A brainchild of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, S4LIS aims to close the yawning gender gap within the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) ecosystem in Ghana. 

In a keynote address at the launch of the initiative in Accra, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said any development agenda being championed by the government will not gloss over the need to implement interventions to address the inequality in education and specific job environments. 

Calling for the need to strategically formulate policies to tackle the gender inequality that has positioned the female gender in disadvantaged situations, thereby curtailing their growth and development and compromising the optimal utilization of human capital in various countries, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said: “The percentage of females graduating from tertiary education from the engineering fields is below 30% for many Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Consequently, scientific work and technological innovation are missing women’s invaluable perspectives and critical contributions.”

And citing the Council on Foreign Relations, an American think tank specializing in United States of America foreign policy and international relations, the communications minister said increasing women's participation in STEM careers has the power to close the gender pay gap and boost women's cumulative earnings by $299 billion over the next ten years, expediting global economic development.

“Thus, women's participation in STEM fields could spur economic growth and promote gender equality worldwide,” she said.