Stakeholders in the engineering field, Thursday, called for the involvement of more female children in the field just as they appealed to parents to allow them to study the course.
They spoke at the “Engineering for girls’ symposium’, held at the Baze University, Abuja. The programme was organised by the Centre for Economic and Leadership Development.
The immediate past President of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Engineer Kashim Abdul Ali, in his address, identified cultural barrier as one of the factors militating against girl-child from studying engineering courses.
He said: “Our problem like I said is a bit cultural and it is a wrong interpretation of the culture. We think if you’re a woman, your life should depend on a man, and that when you are in that man’s house, you are the head of the kitchen.
“Whatever the culture the people are bringing in, they need to know that the world is changing. In our culture, we feel women belong to the kitchen. It’s that attitude that we have that is not good. If we change it, and we are changing it gradually, all these things will be overcome, but we need time.
On her part, the wife of the deputy governor of Delta state, Dr. Ebierin Otuaro, appealed to the parents to allow their girl-children to study engineering courses, expressing the hope that the number of women engineers in the nearest future will be equated with their male counterparts.
“We are hoping that in the nearest future, we will balance up with men in the engineering field. We are not competing with them, but the way it is going, it is a good development.
