Science for All: “Girls in Science” project fights gender inequality

Science for All! The “Girls in Science” project in Kyrgyzstan is proposing that schools introduce in-depth study of science and engineering subjects. The aim is to increase schoolgirls' chances of entering high-paying careers and to combat gender inequality. MIR 24 correspondent, Bekmamat Asanbekov, provides more details.

Currently only 3% of women in Kyrgyzstan have high-paying jobs. The rest of the female workforce has wages that are on average a third lower than men’s as released by the National Statistics Committee (NSC). Most women work in state-financed organizations, services and retail businesses, NCS reported.

The “Girls in Science” project wants to change the wage inequity. The first step is to get school girls interested in technical and engineering careers. An analysis of the labor market has shown that they are in high demand at the moment. The project has also developed specific recommendations for employers, but first it is necessary to build a gender-sensitive society.

"When a woman is educated, the family is educated, and the country is educated. That is what we want. Plus, there shouldn't be such gaps that girls are educated very well at school and very well at university, and then they drop out of the country's development," said Dogdurgul Kendirbayeva, executive director of the “Roza Otunbayeva Initiative”.

The project will train more than 30,000 participants over several years. Participants will have mentors who are successful businesswomen and scientists. All proposals will be sent to the Cabinet of Ministers.

There are gender quotas in local councils in Kyrgyzstan. One-third of the seats are reserved for women parliamentarians.

Source: MIR24