The United Nations Millennium Declaration of 2000 identified the promotion of gender equality and women's empowerment as one of the central goals in combating and reversing extreme poverty, disease, and hunger faced by many in the world. Connected with this aim, the North Africa Sub-Region Workshop on Gender, Science, and Technology was held last fall in Cairo, Egypt. Science and technology are seen as key instruments in creating effective sustainable development; however, these disciplines, particularly technology, are also the site of large gender disparities at all levels. Al-Ahram Weekly reported on this workshop in the article, "The way of the scientist," written by Reem Leila. Below are some key concepts drawn from that article.

Several speakers at the workshop, including Hoda Rashad, the head of Education, Training, and Scientific Research at the Egyptian National Council of Women (NCW), argued that women must be more fully and genuinely integrated into science and technology education, research, and production in order to achieve sustainable development. Speakers identified several barriers to women's study and participation in science and technology in North Africa, including gender bias that has resulted in high illiteracy rates for women (70 percent in the Arab world), the perception that the sciences are the realm of boys and men, and curricula that relate science to "everyday life" in ways that exclude girls and women.

In many cases, they identify these challenges as appearing early, in primary schooling, making them both ubiquitous and self-perpetuating. Farkhonda Hassan, the NCW Secretary-General, stated, "although educational policy in Egypt provides free education for all regardless of gender, thus offering boys and girls equal opportunities, a discipline-based analysis shows the drastic effects of gender stereotyping." This stereotyping and bias not only affects what disciplines and subjects girls are encouraged to explore, but also insinuates itself in the curriculum, alienating female students from the examples presented in the texts and leading to a sort of "self-inhibition" that contributes to lower numbers of female scientists.

In response to these disparities at all levels—primary, secondary, and post-secondary education, research, non-governmental agencies, public and private sector—women's rights activists in Egypt and other North African countries have been pushing for policy changes that include creating more lab space and making this space more available to female scientists, addressing biases in schooling, and collecting and disaggregating data by gender at both local and national levels. In connection with this last recommendation, the NCW has announced its plan to create a database that would assist in the collection and analysis of this data, so that information on where and how women work and their status in the workplace is more readily available and identifiable.

In addition to identifying important policy goals, speakers also addressed the importance of increasing the number of women on science and technology decision-making and advisory boards. There is considerable research documenting how males and females approach technology differently, how they view the uses and importance of technology, and how they engage with it. This not only has significant implications for education and curriculum development, but also for the workforce and technology design and creation. In addition, it has ramifications for equity. The under-representation of women on decision-making and advisory boards can lead, and in many cases has led, to decisions that benefit men more than women. Including more women on these committees and boards will impact planning, design, evaluation, education, and policies around science and technology that will hopefully result in greater equity.

The importance of science and technology to sustainable development is well documented and central in many development discussions. The promotion of gender equality and women's empowerment is becoming increasingly prominent in development discussions, though unfortunately it is often not as central, particularly in the distribution of aid and evaluation of programs, as many women's and human rights activists believe it should be. The North Africa Sub-Region Workshop on Gender, Science, and Technology showed the clear interconnections between science and technology, sustainable development initiatives, and gender equality. Ultimately, everyone benefits through the creation of more equitable, sound, and sustainable development initiatives.

To read the full article, "The way of the scientist" from Al-Ahram Weekly, visit weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/771/fe2.htm.