In a country where few women and girls attend secondary school, let alone higher education and even fewer pursue careers in STEM, 25 women, and girls are bucking that trend, bolstered by practical training made possible by a Beyond the Net Grant from the Internet Society Foundation.
More than a decade of conflict and deeply rooted gender inequality have created myriad challenges for women in Mali.
According to 2021 data, the gross enrollment rate for girls in primary school was 69%, compared to 76% for boys, dwindling to just 33% of girls and 38% of boys enrolled in secondary school in 2020. When it comes to university, or tertiary education, rates plummet further, with a mere 3% of females, versus 6% of males enrolled in 2019, and far fewer completing their studies.
It’s a gap fueled by poverty, early marriage, an unequal burden of care and domestic work and discriminatory social norms – with Mali ranked 153rd out of 166 countries on the United Nations Development Programme’s 2022 Gender Inequality Index. And of the few women who do pursue university in Mali, a mere 6% study engineering.
“Women are not well represented in the Internet network realm,” explains Bakary Kouyaté, President of the Internet Society Mali Chapter. “We’ve noticed that women are often hesitant to go into this area. But Internet Society’s slogan is ‘Internet for all’.”
To help overcome these barriers, in 2023, the “Girls at the Heart of Internet Professions” program, made possible by a Beyond the Net Small Grant from the Internet Society Foundation, trained 25 young women on the basics of designing and deploying computer networks and supported them to undertake an internship at an IT company to help kickstart their professional careers.
Trainees were selected based on the strength of their online applications.
“I’m very happy and very moved that I was able to participate in this training,” says Sawé Aminata Hélène Dackouo, one of the selected trainees. “I learned a lot about network basics, their configuration and IT and I would sincerely love to continue learning in IT. Quite honestly, at first, I wasn’t really interested in this field, but during the training I learned so many things, in theory but above all in practice, so I see this activity as foundational. It’s really the beginning of a beautiful journey for me.”
The 2-week-long training was carried out by local experts and professionals on Internet Society’s online learning platform, complemented by in-person practical work on real equipment, configuring routers to be deployed in the field. The training combined theory and practice, with a simulator, experience-sharing sessions and facility visits to the server room of the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), which interconnects the entire Malian administration, guided by ICTA engineers.
“I never really did any practical work at school but with this training, Internet Society Mali has allowed me to do practical training that has been so useful. I’ve learned so much over these 10 days,” says Asistan Abdoulaye Traoré, another one of the trainees. “I now understand so many things I had learned in class but never fully understood. Getting my foot in the door this way is a real plus for me.”
Once the practical training was completed, participants were placed in IT companies for a month of practical training to consolidate their skills and open avenues for their professional integration.
“It was an enjoyable adventure for me. I learned many things about IT networks, including how to do cabling, troubleshooting and how to configure routers, how to install a network, and more,” says trainee Maimouna Dao. “I hope that in the future I will be able to reinforce my new capacities, improve my performance and help the technical community to develop in the IT domain and do plenty of beautiful things to develop my country’s economy in this area.”
“The Mali chapter had 25 seats for this training. They closed the application form after four days as they received over 600 applications. We are clearly filling a gap with this practical hands-on training. The amazing thing to note is the impact on those young women 25 number of women found either a longer-term internship or full-time employment after they finish the course,” stated Joyce Dogniez, vice president of Empowerment and Outreach at the Internet Society Foundation.
The training concluded with a closing ceremony, where participants received a certificate and a network equipment kit, with crimping pliers, screwdrivers, a cable tester, etc. Five of the trainees with the best scores on tests were also awarded laptops.
Dackouo says the training has inspired her to spread the word among other women and girls to encourage them to enhance their skills: “What I would like to tell other young women is that you really need to challenge yourself to go for it. Whatever training you choose, the mere fact of learning something new, not just at school but wherever you can, is key. Sincerely, Internet Society’s training has really contributed to this and helped instill a culture of learning in me, and this is very important for young women, as well as men. It’s also very important for the development of our country.”