Women participation in science, technology increases in Bangladesh

Women participation has increased in the 'science and technology' arena of the country because of the positive mindset of the people.

Experts have opined that the participation of women in science and technology has increased due to psycho-social and economic reasons.

The participation of girls in science education in Bangladesh is low, they said, adding that even highly educated or culturally influential parents want to involve their daughters in cultural activities, but it is difficult to find parents who want to get involved them in science related field.

About the low percentage of the girl's presence in science field, Lafifa Jamal, a professor of the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering of Dhaka University (DU), told BSS that the participation of girls in science education is less due to socio-economic reasons.

"Most parents want to spend relatively less money on girls' education. Since the cost of science education is high, there is less interest among them to teach science related subjects to their girls," she added.

But recently the scenario is changing. Many women are participating in various science-related fields and keeping positive marks in those areas in this decade at home and abroad, said Lafifa who won the 'Women ICT Personality of the Year-2022' for her special contribution to Information and Communication Technology in Bangladesh.

Children and teenagers have been participating in national and international robot olympiads and winning prizes since 2018 under the leadership of Lafifa Jamal, the founding president of Bangladesh Robot Olympiad and the only female member of the Central Committee of International Robot Olympiad.

Another bright example of women participation in science field is Senjuti Saha who is currently a scientist at the Child Health Research Foundation (CHRF) and board member of the Polio Transition Independent Monitoring Board (TIMB) of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Senjuti, one of the top 10 microbiologists in the world, is popular for her enormous direction on decoding the genome of SARS-CoV2 in Bangladesh.

Recently, a team from Bangladesh named 'Team Diamond', comprising students from Daffodil International University (DIU) and North South University, grabbed the 'Most Inspirational' award in NASA Space Apps Challenge-2022.

Of the four persons of 'Team Diamond', one was a girl named Tisha Khandokar (DIU) who bore the flag of women leadership in that NASA Space Apps Challenge.

Syeda Momena Afsana, a proud mother of three roboticist daughters, told BSS that the taboo of imposing soft or minor works on girls should be eliminated.

She urged all mothers to break this taboo so that their children-cum women can engage themselves more in workplaces in the days to come.

Syeda Momena Afsana is working in Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B).

Her daughters participated in the International Robot Olympiad and won individual medals in 2021.