Second Girls in Control Workshop
In order to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, and further achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, the University of Zululand’s (UNIZULU) Department of Mathematical Sciences recently hosted the 2nd Girls in Control Workshop at its Science Centre.
The goal of the Girls in Control workshop is to inspire young girls at an early age to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The idea of workshop was sparked in 2020 during the 21st International Federation for Automation and Control (IFAC) World Congress. Here, a group of control engineering experts noticed that there was a problem in STEM education, particularly relating to scarce female representation. Studies had also repeatedly shown that math and science were perceived as male domains, and scientists as predominantly male.
In this year’s programme, young girls from Ngqamzana Primary School visited the UNIZULU Science Centre, where they participated in coding and robotics, control engineering overview and a scientific display, to name a few activities.
“The whole point of this workshop is that you are at the age where you want to choose your career, and we want all of you to choose STEM-related fields like IT, physical science and mathematics,” Professor Syamala Krishnannair told the pupils.
Prof Krishnannair, a lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, was assisted by master’s students from the department to create the content in Isizulu. This was to make it easier for the pupils to understand the information as isiZulu is their mother tongue.
- Nomvelo Xulu
Caption
The Department of Mathematical Sciences recently conducted a workshop wherein it encouraged young girls from Ngqamzana Primary School to choose science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects, as these can open the door to exciting career opportunities.
