ENGINEERING FIELD NOW DOMINATED BY WOMEN

SAME BRAIN MATTER, SAME BRAIN CAPACITY WHY NOT SAME JOB?


The perception that female go for soft jobs in the market while men go for the more technocrat ones should not hinder female from pursuing those jobs. This is according to Felicity Mecha, a female technical engineer currently working as a manager with Fab Lab at Kivuli Centre within Dagoretti in Nairobi. She says gender should not limit people from pursuing careers of their interest,
"Not really, our brains are the same, we have the same brain matter, you know the same brain capacity so might not all have the same IQ but I don’t think your gender should limit you, if you are capable then you are capable" she says.
The interest Mecha had since her childhood in mathematics and the desire to combine it with something helped her to develop interest in physics that saw her through scoring a grade that later helped her study electrical engineering, a course that some female students shy from taking because of their technicalities. She says that engineer as a course requires interest in science subjects
"I can`t say that it is easy, most good things are not easy. I like the fact that right now, people are embracing the idea of women and technology, more women are being nurtured to become engineers and everything and if anyone wanted to fit in, they would have somebody to mentor them and everything, so I would say it is somewhere in between hard and easy" she says.

Mecha (pictured above during a site survey )

She further says that people who come from school whether secondary or university are a bit lost and want to get a road map, the best place to get it, is find somebody who has gone through the same experience and share their story. This might not necessarily mean that the person will take the same course but will help in getting advice depending with what happened to them at given junctions and what they did that one needs to and don’t need to do but rather give one prospect of how to think and what to do. During mentorship, graduates discover what technology is all about and what is outside there, some of these things are a mystery, some of these technologies are new, so mentorship helps them discover until they find the niche. At the same time she says that the more graduates, the lesser the job opportunities. This situation makes it difficult for people to be employed. She advises graduates to be willing to even volunteer in organizations that offer internships to avoid creating gaps in their curriculum vitae, CV.

"Sometimes it is not that you just get out and somebody takes you. Sometimes work on a project. Sometimes when you have something to show what you have done, it shows initiative so that even if you go for an interview somebody tells you, you know what, we can see that you have initiative so we`ll take you in but if you have been doing nothing for a whole year just applying for jobs, you might miss out" she added.

Mecha,after graduating from university

Felicity Mecha volunteered for medical camp after graduating from campus, children program in church teaching bible studies, Fab Lab in University of Nairobi to grow her skills. It was the connections she acquired during these programs that landed her in her current job as the manager of the Fab Lab in Kivuli Center. She says it is always better to volunteer than be busy applying and looking for job vacancies. She advises those who have pursued engineering course as a career that she understands that engineering field has a lot of intimidation and some people would back off because they feel like others are so much better than them, but this should not be the case since one should meet the challenge head on by using challenges as places of growth.
This comes as The World Literacy foundation creates an innovative campaign that aims to eliminate the digital divide for students in the developing world and increase student engagement via an exciting digital learning platform.

BY TEBBY OTIENO
tebbyotieno62@gmail.com , @TebbyOtieno