In the Nutanix Connect webinar on 19 August, a panel of leading women speakers will be joining Professor Herman Singh, the CEO of Future Advisory, adjunct professor at the UCT Graduate School of Business and key thought leader in a series of business webinars presented by Nutanix. Participants will gain insight into the progress women are achieving in the workplace and the challenges they face.

Prof Herman Singh will be joined by Fatima Mkandla, Channel Manager South Africa at Nutanix, and will open discussions by sharing research findings on the changing landscape of women in STEM where the floor will be handed to a host of female experts. Attendees can expect a discussion on the direction the world should take to empower women to pursue fulfilling careers, without being side-lined.

“Across the world, women make up about 50% of the workforce; however, in STEM industries, we see this figure stands at 25% worldwide. Women are under indexed in STEM specific skills, despite the fact that STEM is a very attractive industry to be in as 80% of future jobs require a basic STEM understanding, and generally, the salary is on average double that of non-STEM jobs,” said Singh.

In the webinar, Women's increasingly critical role in STEM based industries, they are set to address the key barriers to women playing a more significant role in STEM industries across the world and South Africa in particular. What has worked well in addressing the gaps, what initiatives have failed, and what managers and leaders should be doing to make real change possible will all be discussed.

Fatima Mkandla, Channel Manager at Nutanix, said, “Women have made great strides for gender equality in recent years and continue to support each other in this fight. In the corporate environment, a woman can be given a position of power, but she needs to take ownership of it and use it to lead with a difference. Women within STEM sectors must bring their unique perspectives and contributions to the fore to accelerate transformation within male-dominated spaces. We need a new narrative that brings a different dimension of solving problems and adding value. Companies have a responsibility to create a recruitment process, work environment, and company culture that makes it conducive for women to thrive.”

Women generally have a 4% higher acceptance rate of code than men, but this is only true when the receiver does not know the submission comes from a female—highlighting the very core of this issue we’re facing. In the webinar, the contributing factors why women choose not to go into STEM fields at university level will be analysed, the bias that is placed on them from peers and family, and importantly, why ten years down the line, almost half of these women have fallen out of their positions.

What the audience can expect from joining?

• Gaining an understanding of the current level of participation in these industries and where
• Overview of key trends emerging
• Can the increased participation of women in a firm provide a competitive advantage?
• Learning about Key initiatives to drive this forward
• What the future holds for increasing participation levels
• What they can do to foster greater participation

Click here to register for this insightful online event on 19 August at 13:00 – 14:00 PM, it’s free!