Connectivity, technology, and football can impact the education of women, 2021 WISE Summit hears

The effects of the pandemic on education, including the benefits and challenges of homeschooling and the developmental impairments created by virtual learning, have been deliberated at length. But one topic of discussion that has not been widely addressed is how COVID has specifically impacted women, who – in many parts of the world – continue to face major obstacles in accessing quality education.

Female experts gathered at the 2021 WISE Summit, which was organized by Qatar Foundation’s global education initiative WISE, to discuss women – their education and their contribution to society – in relation to the pandemic, as well as how as girls around the world can continue to be empowered through education.

Sarah Al-Amiry, North Field Production Sustainment Project (NFPS) Joint Venture Project Manager, ExxonMobil’s Qatar Projects, said that the pandemic presented both a negative and positive perspective to the progression of women’s empowerment.

“On the one hand, we saw more girls return to the home where they had a smaller chance of being properly educated. While, on the other, a lot of gender roles associated with education were shattered as a result of the pandemic – any parent, male or female, found themselves in a position that required them to support virtual learning and school from home,” Al-Amiry said.

She also emphasized the ways in which technology has helped blur conventional gender roles by ensuring access to educational resources and facilities for all, making it easier for women to engage in activities typically thought to be male dominated.

Acknowledging the significant role played by technology in empowering women, global education advocate and Founder of SAGE Foundation, Naza Alakija, shed light on the contrast between countries that have access to internet and technology – tools that help bridge the gender disparity gap – and those that do not. “The internet is like water – it’s essential,” she said.

“This dichotomy is what I was afraid of when the pandemic started, and it is why we need to ensure we push for connectivity. We need to understand its importance and advocate for it. Ensuring that our infrastructure is resilient for times like these is key.”

Ana Rold, CEO and Publisher at Diplomatic Courier, agreed, saying that while technology is an equalizer and levels the playing field, more women are needed to innovate to ensure inherent biases are avoided or balanced out.

Connectivity and technology are excellent tools to facilitate access to quality education and can pave the way for a more gender-balanced society, added Eglantina Zinng, Founder of Goleadoras – a non-profit social organization that uses football to promote confidence in at risk girls.

Zingg also explained that more than 96 percent of women who excel professionally, particularly those that go on to hold C-suite positions, are known to have played team sports at a young age.

“Football is the most popular sport in the world. Not having girls participate in it is a mirror image of the disparity that exists in the world. That’s what we want to change. Its benefits are endless – fitness, communication skills, discipline, teamwork – and these are the things that directly link sports to academic excellence,” she said.

In order to achieve and maintain access and equality for women in education, change needs to be made diplomatically. Partnerships with grassroots organizations, mentorship, and cultivating ideas from the ground is the way forward, Zingg and Alakija agreed. “More so than seeking equality, we need to seek a balance,” Rold added.