In support of the International Girls in ICT Day

Compulsory Peace & ICTs Education Campaign (8th Session)
Theme: “AI for Development: Girls Shaping the Digital Future”
Dedicated to: Pioneer of the GPS Dr. Gladys B. West

Opening Remarks: From Academia to Industry: The Rising Power of Woman in the Field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
By Prof. Dr. Alev Taşkın, Yıldız Technical University, Faculty Of Mechanical Engineering, Department Of Industry Engineering, Türkiye.

This session is organized in support of the global International Girls in ICT Day. As part of our commitment to the Compulsory Peace & ICTs Education campaign, we have dedicated this year’s proceedings to the pioneering legacy of Dr. Gladys B. West, whose work in satellite geodesy forms the bedrock of modern digital navigation.
Through the below Opening Remarks, Professor Taşkın brings deep academic leadership to our mission, providing the essential framework for how we integrate high-level ICT and AI literacy into an inclusive, global educational model.

From Academy to Industry: The Rising Power of Women in the Field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTS)

[LMGlobal.Org, New York]
Globally, girls’ access to education has increased significantly over the last 30 years. Today, the gender gap has largely closed at the primary school level. However, we don’t see the same picture in the rest of life.
Worldwide, the proportion of women in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is still around 30%. In engineering specifically, this rate remains in the 20-28% range in many countries. Even more striking, only 22.7% of ICT graduates in OECD countries are women. In Europe, approximately 17-20% of ICT students are women.

The female labor force participation rate in ICT is 11-24% in the OECD, 17% in the European Union, and approximately 23% in the USA. Only 22% of artificial intelligence professionals are women; and the rate of female inventors in ICT patents is approximately 9%. Men are 3 to 7 times more represented than women in ICT jobs.

In Turkey, the proportion of female students studying engineering at universities is around 30-35%. This actually shows significant potential. However, the percentage of women engineers actively working in the sector after graduation often falls below 20%.

Yet behind these challenges, Turkey also has a powerful story of progress. According to OECD data, women represent approximately 25% of new entrants in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) programs in Turkey—higher than the OECD average of around 20%. In engineering, manufacturing and construction programs, women account for about 28% of new entrants. At master’s and doctoral level, female participation rises even further, reaching nearly 39% in some doctoral engineering tracks.
This means something remarkable: when opportunities deepen, women do not step back—they step forward. Turkey has also been home to pioneering institutions such as Yildiz Technical University, which began training women engineers as early as the 1911s. Today, some technical universities report that nearly 40% of enrolled and graduating students are women.

And momentum is growing. Programs such as United Nations Development Programme’s Engineer Girls of Türkiye have already brought together students from 37 universities and supported hundreds of young women through mentoring, coaching, scholarships, and career development networks.

The issue isn’t just about access to education; it’s about a sustainable career path

So when we speak about women in ICT, we are not speaking about potential waiting to be discovered. We are speaking about talent already proven, leadership already emerging, and a future already being built. What is needed now is not permission—but more visibility, more opportunity, and more belief.

So the issue is not capability. The issue is retention, promotion, leadership, and equal opportunity.
Because if women can enter these programmes, graduate successfully, and contribute professionally, then the next question is clear: How many are becoming managers, founders, professors, CTOs, AI leaders, and decision-makers?

And this is where the next transformation must happen.

Türkiye already has the talent. It already has the educated young women. It already has successful female engineers, researchers, developers, and entrepreneurs.

So the issue isn’t just about access to education; it’s about a sustainable career path.
And more importantly—in which fields and at what levels women can exist.
In other words, women’s voices are still not heard enough in the fields that shape the future.

Because the obstacles aren’t just at the school gate.
The obstacles are in minds, stereotypes, and expectations.

When a girl is told at a young age to “be calmer,” “don’t be too ambitious,” “that profession isn’t for you,” her capacity to dream is actually limited.

Real inequality sometimes stems not from a lack of opportunity, but from not believing that opportunity is possible.

When a girl doesn’t see someone similar to herself in that role, she may feel that she doesn’t belong there. That’s why speaking here today, being visible, sharing stories is so valuable.

To a girl who wants to take me as a role model, I can say that I come from an environment that is low-visioned in terms of education and career, not hindering but also not supportive. From all these years of experience, I’ve learned these three things:

1. Hard work is invaluable. While there are sub-components like working systematically and efficiently, working hard in your target area will lead you to success.

2. Not giving up and being consistent. Working regularly every day is necessary. There will always be someone faster or with more resources than us. But we must work without forgetting the story of the tortoise and the hare, remembering that the tortoise reached the finish line.

3. We must protect our physical and psychological health and well-being. To do this, read a lot, know yourself well, protect your self-esteem, and prioritize your personal development so that you can express yourself well and accurately.

Finally, I would like to emphasize that this is not just a matter of gender, not just a matter of sociological, demographic, or economic differences; it is a matter of supporting each other and harnessing the creative power of diversity. Supporting each other is not about being a man or a woman, but about intention and character. As the world changes rapidly, progress and adapting to this change as individuals, societies, and nations will only be possible with diverse, creative, and original working teams.

My sisters, my brothers, let’s support each other, not hinder each other, today and in the future! I would like to conclude my words with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s words:
“Everything we see in the world is the creative work of women” – Atatürk