Drive to close gender gap in ICT sector

Officials have launched a renewed drive to boost the number of girls entering information and communications technology, as the country grapples with persistent gender imbalances in the sector.

On Thursday, national and regional officials gathered to mark Girls in ICT Day, part of a revived initiative to promote gender inclusion in science and technology and reshape perceptions of the sector among young women.

Spearheaded by the Ministry of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology (MIST), in partnership with CARICOM, this year’s event featured face-to-face sessions at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, alongside a regional online forum.

“Girls in ICT is one of those celebrated days that is still a secret in Barbados,” said Nicola Callender, director of information systems at the Treasury Department. “This year, our plan is to ensure that girls across Barbados—and across CARICOM—are exposed to all the various careers in ICT.”

The event included live demonstrations in robotics, drone technology and social media strategy, with speakers from private sector firms Digicel and Carter’s General Stores. The deeper message was about mindset—dismantling outdated ideas that technology is a male domain, Callender added.

“When I got involved over 25 years ago in ICT, most of my colleagues were men. Girls are entering in interesting ways, especially when it’s paired with management or accounting—but when it comes to the more technical side, like networking or hardware, the guys are still holding that down. That’s the space we want girls to know they can also occupy.”

Paulita Benjamin, innovation officer at MIST, pointed to a more fundamental challenge—Barbados’s underdeveloped scientific culture.

“Persons are not very interested in science in the way they should be, even though science and technology are the drivers of the economy,” she said. “We saw that clearly during COVID-19. People were talking about PCR tests but didn’t understand what they were. That lack of understanding is dangerous.”

Benjamin believes the issue must be tackled from the ground up—starting with primary schools, where children’s curiosity is still untamed.

“We’re working on starting science clubs at the primary level. That’s the best place to begin if you want to build a culture of science in Barbados. Right now, people still see science professionals as ‘nerds’. We have to change that.”

She added that the University of the West Indies must be ready to expand its science programmes to accommodate future demand, as more young Barbadians begin to see science and technology as viable, rewarding career paths.

The officials were also clear-eyed about the deeper structural issues in ICT. Lisa Graves, the island’s data protection commissioner, said the decision to reintroduce Girls in ICT Day followed years of silence after the pandemic disrupted earlier efforts.

“We hadn’t done anything since COVID,” said Graves. “I went to the chief digital technology officer and said, ‘Let’s bring this back’. We need to highlight the professional women already in ICT, because it’s such a male-dominated field.”

But the event was about more than representation; it was about reshaping futures.

“We wanted to encourage young women to see ICT as an area where they can have productive, meaningful careers,” Graves said. “If the girls leave thinking, ‘This is something I can do’—whether that’s data analytics, being an IT officer, teaching science, or working in food science—then I’m happy.”

Callender further added: “Girls need to know that drone technology, robotics and analytics aren’t just for boys in gloves and wires. They belong in those rooms too.” (SZB)