Female engineers in Tanzania have called for more recognition and motivation to enable them attend professional development programmes in accordance with the provisions, as there is no proper system in place to recognise their work.
This call came recently in Dar es Salaam by the Chairperson for Women Engineers Chapter at the Institution of Engineers Tanzania (IET), Ms Alice Isibika, when speaking on the second Tanzania Women Engineers Convention and Exhibition (TAWECE).
“There are a lot of women engineers in the country who are doing great work. Through this convention it will be easier to strengthen our unity and also be able to document what we do,” she noted.
She also stated that when women do excel in male-dominated jobs they are not generally praised for it. In fact women may be penalized for being too ambitious, too confident and too assertive.
Ms. Isibika further said that they have found that women stay in engineering because they want to make sure they are making a difference, as they have fear and challenges which they believe they make them stronger and a gift to grow and get to the next level.
The Chairperson pointed that over a number of years the engineering community has been seeing a positive change of engineers playing a noticeable role in the growing engineering profession, adding that there was still more to be done in attaining the required caliber of women engineers.
“Women engineers work hard and are willing to put in the hours necessary to achieve their goals,” Ms Isibika said The convention to be held on 12 August will attract women engineers working in various organizations, ministries, learning institutions, secondary schools, engineering association and other stakeholders in the industry.
Carrying the theme, ‘Enhancing Women Engineers towards Social and Professional Development,” its main objective is to motivate the women engineers to be able to explore their full potential in social and professional life using the Best Practice Approach.
Source: Tanzania Daily News
