Beyond Borders: Women And Youth Employability In Technology
An ACM-W Chapters Webinar
By Bettina Bair
On the 12th June this year, a ACM-W Chapters webinar brought together technology leaders from opposite hemispheres to highlight the commonalities and distinctions affecting women and youth in technology. Professor Adebisi Baale from the Ibadan ACM-W Chapter in Nigeria and Lexius Walter from the 614 Central Ohio ACM-W Chapter in the US presented the challenges and opportunities from their respective nations. We learned that while the chapters are very far apart geographically, their passion for ACM-W’s mission to support, advocate and celebrate women in computing is very much the same.
Bettina Bair, chair of the ACM-W Global Chapters Committee, introduced the meeting and welcomed the attendees and the speakers. Bettina provided an overview of ACM-W’s mission to support women in computing by developing local leadership and building global communities to create a more inclusive and diverse future in which everyone is supported equitably by technology. She noted that ACM-W has 227 chapters in 37 countries with over 49,000 members globally.
Speaker 1 Spotlight: Professor Adebisi (Abimbola) Baale – Ibadan ACM-W Chapter, Nigeria
The first speaker was Professor Adebisi (Abimbola) Baale, a Professor of Data Mining and a respected academic leader at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Nigeria. Professor Baale summarized the current landscape and presented statistics on gender representation in Nigeria’s tech workforce, highlighting that women account for less than 22% of graduates in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields.
Professor Baale discussed various challenges facing female students in Nigeria. For example, early marriage and societal expectations encourage girls to prioritize homemaking and create restrictions on mobility, thus limiting their job opportunities. Compounding these social pressures, poverty, early pregnancies, lack of financial support, and risk of harassment cause many girls to drop out of school. Consequently, women are concentrated in low-growth sectors (e.g., agriculture, retail) and underrepresented in STEM.
Fortunately, there are some encouraging signs. A growing tech ecosystem is developing in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, with over 400 tech hubs now offering training and internships. A government program, the NG Girls Coding Initiative, is training 10,000 girls annually in software development. UN Women & UNICEF Programs offer scholarships and boot camps for girls in AI, cybersecurity, and data science. There is also increasing support from the corporate and private sectors. For example, Google and Microsoft are offering free tech certification programs for young women. Some companies are starting targeted programs to hire more female engineers.
Professor Baale shared success stories of two Nigerian female tech leaders: Ada Nduka Oyom, who founded She Code Africa to empower 600,000+ women in tech, and Damilola Olokesusi, who created Shuttlers, a rideshare platform that later launched She Moves shuttles to provide safe transportation for women.
Speaker 2 Spotlight: Lexius Waltar, 614 Central Ohio ACM-W, US
The second speaker was Lexius Walter, a Quality Assurance Engineer at AppFolio with a background in frontend development and a passion for science communication. Lexius began her presentation by citing statistics showing that women hold fewer than 28% of computing and technical roles in the US, despite comprising 48% of the total U.S. labor force. And women earn approximately 18.6% less than their male colleagues.
In the US, Lexius identified key obstacles for young women, including early exposure gaps and high costs of certifications and training. Expectations for the tech workforce in the US are evolving. Over 50% of computer and mathematical occupations require at least a bachelor’s degree, and employees are expected to pay for additional certifications themselves to ensure long-term employability. These financial burdens create a barrier to entry for youth from underserved backgrounds. She also noted that socialization and lack of visible mentors can create a “Confidence Gap” that discourages women from applying for technical roles.
Lexius observed that there were many community initiatives in her Ohio community that supported women in technology, especially another ACM-W chapter for students at the Ohio State University that offered coding workshops and STEM events. She also mentioned a local county’s investment of $4.5 million to support women of color in tech through training programs and boot camps.
Lexius also described her 614 ACM-W chapter’s activities, including networking sessions, talks and panels, mentorship programs, and workshops, emphasizing the importance of community support and skill building for women in technology.
Interactive Q&A: Bridging the Hemispheres
After the presentations, the audience discussed common concerns and issues that women face globally. They also focused on the differences in education systems between Nigeria and the US. One person noted that employers’ expectation that tech workers continuously pursue certifications at their own expense amounted to moving goalposts for advancement in the US. Professor Baale explained that in Nigeria, the transition into tech from other fields is more flexible, but that education can be expensive for low-income earners. In Nigeria, government student loans and personal sponsorships have helped address this issue.
The ACM-W Global Chapters Committee is grateful to the speakers, Professor Adebisi Baale and Lexius Waltar, for sharing their expertise, experiences, and insights. We also appreciate those who joined us for this webinar from around the world. We hope this discussion has inspired new ideas, new connections, and new opportunities for women and youth in technology.
Learn more about the 614 Central Ohio ACM-W and Ibadan ACM-W Nigeria through their websites.
Want to join or start an ACM-W Chapter: Check out ACM-W Chapters or email acmw-chapters@acm.org
Check out previous ACM-W Webinars here.