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According
to the records of APWEN, there are only about 300 (2.7%)
women engineers registered with the Nigerian Society of
Engineers out of a membership of 11,000. As shown in Figure
2, the Nigerian government employs 55% of these women,
while industry employs 25%. But given the small number
of female engineers in the first place, the actual percent
of female engineers within each company is quite low.
Figure 3 shows the distribution of engineers within selected
companies.
Given
the small number of women in engineering, it is no surprise
that women make up a minuscule percent of engineers in
most companies, if they are even represented at all. On
a positive note, a female engineer in industry earns as
much as her male counterpart in the same job.
The
hard part, of course, is getting a job to begin with.
In Nigeria, for both men and women, jobs are generally
obtained through connections and networking, instead of
through a fair and free interview process. This means
that social and political connections are a great asset
when it comes to job hunting. A major issue to contend
with right now is the problem of unemployment. Only 24.5%
of women are employed, and 38.2% of men. The depressed
economy has reduced the number of open positions, and
women who are self-employed have a hard time getting contracts
from the government and private companies. There are no
government-sponsored strategies to recruit and retain
women in engineering, and women lack the financial and
political strength required to make changes in government
policy.
Once
a woman has a job, this is no guarantee that she will
be able to advance within the company. Women generally
have to work harder in order to earn the same opportunities
that are presented to male colleagues. However, with persistence,
dedication, and a willingness to take on challenges, this
barrier can be overcome. One thing a woman engineer does
need to be successful though is to be registered with
the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and the Council
for Regulation of Engineering of Nigeria (COREN). A number
of women are not registered with these organizations due
to a lack of confidence and experience, and this can be
a major barrier to pursuing a career in engineering.
There
are a number of professional engineering societies in
Nigeria that sponsor events like conferences and seminars,
but only APWEN exists solely for women. Women can also
join international engineering organizations such as the
Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and
the International Society
for Optical Engineering (SPIE) and use these organizations
to make contacts and advance their own careers. As the
number of women engineers continues to grow and organizations
such as APWEN grow in strength, women engineers will have
increasing opportunities to be successful and pursue their
dreams.
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