Role models are recognised as crucial factors to achieve zero gender bias and gender equality. For women, if they can see themselves represented, nothing can stop them from breaking the glass ceiling.
This year, the theme of International Women’s Day is #BreakingTheBias – to promote a world free of stereotyping and discrimination.
This can only be impactful if the groundbreaking achievements of strong women role models across the globe are acknowledged and celebrated to give others the courage to follow in their footsteps.
We are celebrating our true role models at Bolt – the first women who joined Bolt’s Women in Tech internship program last year.
The tech space is predominantly male-dominated, with women increasingly being offered limited opportunities. According to Adeva IT, in 2018, women held only 25% of all jobs in the tech industry, although they make up almost half of the workforce.
As part of efforts to create equal opportunity, Bolt – the ride-hailing app, launched an initiative to help women across Africa fast-track their careers in the tech world.
In Ghana, Keziah Odoi, Rabiatu Ahmed and Sharon Darko were successful interns who could join different teams across Operations and Marketing and Public Relations at Bolt.
Among these interns, Sharon was assigned to the Operations Department, where she seized the opportunity to improve her professional developmental skills and a year on, she continues to work at Bolt Ghana as a full-time intern.
She describes her experience saying, “I would not change a single thing. So much about my professional skills has improved, and I have realised I work better in a team-orientated environment while simultaneously having responsibility for individual tasks.”
Ms Darko believes that the current experience is preparing her for the operational aspects of the tech start-up she dreams of launching in the future.
Keziah, who now works in the field of engineering, said, “the knowledge I acquired in marketing combined with my software engineering skills has given me the capacity to work on and develop projects that in the future will solve problems in society.”
Rabiatu, who finds herself working in Public Relations, expressed her gratitude to Bolt, saying, “my experience at Bolt Ghana was great and impactful and helped me achieve some level of growth which has seen me take up top-level tasks and responsibilities in my current line of work.”
All three ladies continue to be unanimous about the usefulness of their Women in Tech Internship experience and are hopeful that this foundation will help propel them to greater heights as they advance in their careers.
They also hope that their story will inspire those who come after them to soar higher and reach beyond the sky to achieve heights that will continue to break the bias.
