Encouraging more women to enter the ICT workforce can help solve South Africa’s skills shortage.

Mecer Inter-Ed is committed to empowering women in tech through its comprehensive range of ICT courses. These courses are a great way for women to acquire the skills that will enable them to progress and thrive in an industry that has historically been dominated by men.

According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2022, which is published by the World Economic Forum, only 42% of STEM graduates and 38% of ICT graduates in South Africa are women. What makes this particularly notable is that 63% of all graduates from South Africa’s tertiary education institutions are female. This shows that South Africa’s technology industry has tremendous potential to grow its inclusion of female professionals.

The importance of women in tech

A Council of Foreign Relations report by Ann Mei Chang and Catherine Powell highlights several key reasons why enabling women in the ICT space is particularly important in emerging economies. They noted the documented ICT skills shortage in countries such as South Africa and argued that encouraging more women to enter the ICT workforce can help bridge the gap between demand for these skills and their availability.

Chang and Powell explained this skills shortage is exacerbated by the fact that ICT skills are also coveted outside of the ICT sector - as technology has become a key part of running almost any business. The pair also noted that as women become more prominent in the technology industry, they will be able to help make many products and services more relevant to female consumers. This will help businesses reach new female audiences with their technology-driven products – ultimately resulting in greater business growth and success.

“Working together, the public and private sector should address the multiple barriers women and girls face, particularly in low and middle-income countries whose economies stand to gain the most from greater participation of women in vital ICT jobs,” said Chang and Powell.

Learn new ICT skills with Mecer Inter-Ed

Leading ICT training certification provider Mecer Inter-Ed offers an extensive range of training courses that will help South African women develop crucial ICT skills. 

For example, it recently held a 10-week Data Analyst skills program specifically for 25 women. This program provided these women with a variety of valuable skills including Business Skills, Advanced Excel, Introduction to SQL Databases, Transact SQL, Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst, and Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure.

The program was highly successful as it boasted a 98% pass rate, and Mecer Inter-Ed is excited to continue supporting women in tech through its great educational tools. These include its Microsoft Partner Skills Academy, which offers self-paced training and instructor-led training options not only for building skills, but also for driving more certified individuals in South Africa. The array of additional benefits like Practise Lab access, exams, and practice tests further enables these individuals to be successful in their upskilling journey.   

With ICT skills in high demand from businesses, now is a great time for South African women to enter one of the fastest-growing industries in the world.

Visit our courses page to view all ICT courses.