by Hugh C.n. Miller | Jul 6, 2018 | Uncategorized
The third in the series of blogs from Ariellah, CEO of ORT SA. Watch out for the series of Career Guidance talks coming soon to the ORT SA Academy:
If you knew that you could do whatever your mind is set to do, what would you be doing?
Include this question when pursuing your career choice. Reflect on it and use it in discussions with family and friends. Choose people who will listen to you in a non-judgmental way and with constructive feedback.
When we finish school and are faced with a career decision, we are also under pressure to choose a certain path, from parents or our social circle. Usually, the advice is towards the familiar and conventional job career choices; becoming a lawyer, doctor, accountant…all to secure your future and financial stability.
The question is what future are we securing? Numerous articles and research discuss the unknown with the jobs of the future due to the magnitude of changes brought by technology. Automation and artificial intelligence is said to already replace 50% of the jobs force in the USA. So what will be the jobs of the future and what skills will we need to ensure we are equipped?
In the past, mastering one skill used to be the norm. Be good in one thing, master it and you will become successful. Unfortunately, today, mastering one skill is not enough. In his book, Adam Scott, ‘How to fail at almost everything but still win big’ the author claims that it’s better to develop a variety of abilities and sometimes fail than mastering a single skill. Having many skills, increases your market value and will help you adjust to the world’s constant changes as well as help you stand out from the competition.
How is this helping parents or the decision makers? It may help alleviate the pressure of acquiring one single skilled profession. It may change our perspective that failing in a specific job choice may just be a stepping stone towards another route. Acquiring a variety of skills, already from school is vital if we are to become ready for the jobs of the future.
by Hugh C.n. Miller | Jan 29, 2018 | Uncategorized
PROMOTING STEM EDUCATION FOR GIRLS ENSURES THEM THEIR RIGHTFUL PLACE TO CONTRIBUTE AND BE ACKNOWLEDGED
Ariellah Rosenberg, CEO ORT South Africa
The #metoo campaign in social media and broadcast channels has raised awareness about women who have been sexually abused and marginalised. This campaign, at times, has been controversial due to the magnitude that it has reached. Nevertheless, it is an important movement for women suffering in silence.
The #metoo movement has become more than women expressing their frustration about malicious sexism; it is becoming a roar for acknowledgment of women’s place in society and for the contribution women make to universal progress and growth.
Considering the advancement of human beings on this earth, one is in awe of what we have achieved. We have found ways to defeat hunger, disease and pandemics and even strive for immortality. According to Dr Yuval Noah Harari, in his book Homo Deus, the source of human power is continued growth and subsequent technological improvements.
When thinking of innovators who have contributed to technological advancement and innovations, who comes to mind first? Thomas Edison, Bill Gates? How about Marie Curie who won the Noble Prize twice for the work she did on radioactivity? How about our own Joan Joffe, known as the first lady of ICT in South Africa?
For decades, women were denied education and opportunities to be able to achieve as much as their male counterparts and in some countries we still need to fight for the rights of women to education and employment.
In the past years more and more women are contributing massively to economic and entrepreneurship innovation. But do we hear about them?
The book Innovating Women by Vivek Wadhwa and Farai Chideya, asks this question and provides examples of tech women we rarely hear about. Such is the case with Kay Koplowitz who founded the USA Network. She developed the novel idea of using satellite for commercial use and brought sport to cable television; she is also the first woman to serve as a network president in television history.
The book also makes references to research which shows that businesses run by women tend to be highly successful and consistently out-perform their male-owned counterparts. A study by American Express found that among businesses with revenue greater than $10 million, women-owned business experienced a 47% higher rate of growth. Between 2002 and 2012 female-owned business grew 28.6% compared to 24.4% owned by men.
The book notes that despite the success shown above, businesses led by women often struggle to get funding. The Centre for Business Women Research discovered that a significant reason for this can be directly tied to gender bias.
Social change enables more women to innovate, make a difference and impact our environment. More work is needed to be done if we, as a society, are to maintain our power and continue growing, ensuring women have their rightful place to contribute but also to be acknowledged.
And this has to start early, by promoting STEM education for girls from an early stage as well as ensuring that the workplace gets rid of gender discrepancies and adopts policies that empower women.
Just as we managed to defeat some biases and diseases and dominate earth with our advancement, so it is our obligation to fight gender biases and discrepancies and create space for women in STEM careers, innovation and entrepreneurship.
ORT SA, an educational NGO provides STEM education and skills transformation as well as entrepreneurship support and training.
Look out for our calendar of events for 2018 incorporating these issues on www.orts.org.za or on our Facebook, Twitter & Instagram sites.
