The 2nd #WomeninTechPK meetup took place at 10Pearls in Karachi on 8th July, my first one though (sigh!). The objective of these meetups is to identify the problems that women face in STEM and to work out solutions to rectify or minimize them.
Areas identified that require urgent attention were
- Mentoring and Training the youth (college going girls) to attract and inspire them at the same time listening to problems or road blocks that they foresee. WomeninTechPK plans to identify role models in the Tech industry (both male and female) to address their concerns.
- Work places need to be more “Women friendly”. Having day care centers and giving time off / flexible hours to young working moms actually build up on loyalty. Some big institutions around the city have day care centers but we have a long way to go. As far as giving Flexible hours goes, Genetech practices that already and I have seem remarkable results! However we still need to identify what can done to spread more awareness.
- Genetech Solutions and 10 Pearls have offered their premises to conduct seminars and training workshops for young girls.
More soon!