By Sarah Musumba
Let’s start with a truth we do not say loudly enough: the future is being coded, engineered, calculated, and scientifically tested every single day. The only question is, who gets to build it?
My view? It should not be mostly men.
Globally, women make up about 30% of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) workforce.
In many parts of the Global South, that number drops even further in engineering, ICT, and advanced sciences.
This is not because girls struggle with mathematics. If that were true, classrooms across Africa would not be filled with girls excelling in biology and chemistry.
The issue is not capability. It is conditioning.
Think about childhood for a moment. A little boy receives a robotics kit, wires, wheels, sensors, with an unspoken message: build the future, son.
A little girl receives a Barbie doll with perfect hair and tiny shoes, and an equally unspoken syllabus in “soft skills.”
Before she can spell “algorithm,” she is already being groomed for emotional intelligence and event planning. Meanwhile, her brother is dismantling appliances in the name of curiosity.
Early exposure shapes confidence. UNESCO data shows that girls often perform just as well as boys in science subjects, yet they are less likely to pursue them at higher levels, not because of ability, but because of perception. And perception starts early.
Then comes the workplace.
Women in STEM frequently find themselves as “the only one in the room.” Being the only one means your ideas are scrutinised more, your mistakes are magnified, and your ambition may be labelled as “aggressive.”
Research by McKinsey shows that women are less likely to be hired into technical roles and more likely to exit mid-career, not because they lack skills, but because workplace structures often lack the support systems needed to retain them.
The Sacrifices you Make Today will Benefit Another Woman TomorrowThen there are networks. In many technical sectors, opportunities travel through informal pipelines, alumni groups, after-work strategy sessions, and inner circles you did not even know existed. If you are not in the circle, you are not in the conversation.
But here is the part that should excite us.
Across the Global South, women are rewriting the narrative, quietly and sometimes loudly. In Kenya, targeted STEM programmes have significantly increased girls’ enrolment in engineering pathways.
Across East Africa, women are leading fintech innovations, building renewable energy solutions, and designing health-tech platforms that solve real community problems.
It turns out that when you give women tools, they do not just use them; they innovate with them.
So how do we shift the narrative? We start early by giving girls robotics kits, science experiments, and coding clubs, not as special empowerment projects, but as normal childhood experiences.
Their curiosity deserves to be nurtured just as much as anyone else’s. We fix workplaces by prioritising transparent promotion pathways, flexible policies, and genuine leadership opportunities, not just annual Women’s Day panels.
And we build real networks by pairing mentorship with sponsorship, ensuring that someone advocates for women’s advancement in rooms where they are not present.
Let’s be clear: including women in STEM is not charity or chivalry. It is smart economics. When countries maximise their full talent pool, both men and women, they innovate better and grow faster.
So in this Women’s month, coming into International Women’s Day, perhaps it is time to upgrade the toy aisle, fewer “career-ready Barbies,” more circuit boards.
Because women in STEM are not just the future. They are already building it.
Sarah Musumba is Head of ESG, Quality Chemical Industries Limited
