“Stifling gender equality limits innovation, education and global prosperity. Hampering women and girls to pursue STEM initiatives at school, home and work negatively affects current progress, as well as future generations. It’s hard to understand why we still need to address this when we should instead focus on productivity and the value of human contribution without bias.
If there’s any industry that is starting to figure it out, it is software development. Remote, on-demand, community-based talent networks gained significant ground over the past 5 years to highlight software developers as a benchmark for compassion, equity, transparency and opportunity in the workforce regardless of gender, geolocation, ethnicity, etc.
A data-driven focus on productivity and value successfully renders bias obsolete. Workers who are more productive and contribute positively to enterprise objectives should be celebrated. To achieve true workplace equality, companies must do away with subjective measurement and instead assess talent on tangible metrics.
It’s worth noting how an online first mindset enables companies and the workforce to quickly adapt to constant change. Children growing up in this progressive online first environment are primed for STEM exploration. Trial, error, research, success – these attributes, really Scientific Method in nature – need to be woven into the daily fabric of communities and education systems.
No matter where you are in the world, STEM provides opportunity. It’s fundamental to every field of work. Providing an early spark for youth allows the natural development of their “intellectual wow” factor to problem solve and communicate, and that’s crucial to the advancement of a global economy.”
