Women remain largely under-represented in the scientific fields at all levels of education. In higher education, women represent only 35% of all students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
This leads to a gender imbalance in technological professions, increasingly the source of key future employment with growing influence for the future. At a time when 90% of jobs will require digital skills (European Commission), women who have not received training in this field risk being left behind. In artificial intelligence, only 12% of researchers in the world are women, as are 6% of mobile app and software developers (ITU). These figures are all the more alarming in view of the increasing place of artificial intelligence in our daily lives.
UNESCO is committed to promoting the inclusion of women and girls in STEM fields, particularly in education for digital skills, new technologies and artificial intelligence. UNESCO calls on all stakeholders, public and private, to contribute to the establishment of a more ethical and equitable technological sector, sensitive to gender equality, especially in the field of artificial intelligence.
International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8 each year, is an opportunity to recognize the remarkable achievements of women and to work together to advance gender equality around the world. In 2020, UNESCO through this exhibition highlights non-profit apps created by women and for women.
These apps target diverse issues that affect women and girls around the world, such as their empowerment, security, and sex education. By offering concrete solutions, these applications aim to raise awareness on the remarkable contributions of women to science, technology and innovation while showing the potential of new technologies to foster gender equality and empowerment of women. The apps are:
