Daniel Tairo,
Student IFM, 3rd Year ADIT
Mobile: 0741 301288
kalebi80@yahoo.com
and
Eliamani Sedoyeka
Student IFM, 3rd Year ADCS
Mobile: 0741 646266
huyder@yahoo.com

Abstract.
The paper is about women in IT in education. Their participation is low compared to that of men. The paper explains why, and the past and the current participation of women in education is examined. The comparison of participation of women in IT based subjects is done with both men and other courses. The paper focuses on all level of education in general and in IT based courses/subjects.

This paper is discussing the participation of women in information technology. It focuses on education. It will try to discuss the position of women in society in general and their position in education in general in all levels. It then discusses what is the participation of women in IT based subjects and comparing it with other subjects.
The discussion is based in Tanzania though sometimes it will go beyond and cover Africa in general.

African women have been active in agriculture, trade and other economic pursuits, but majority of them are in informal labour force. In 1985 women's shares in African labour forces ranged from 17 percent, in Mali, to 49 per cent in Mozambique and Tanzania (World Bank, 1989). African women are guardians of their children's welfare and have explicit responsibility to provide for them materially. They are house hold managers, providing food, nutrition, water, health education, and family planning to an extent greater than elsewhere in the developing world.

In early societies especially during hunting and gathering and early agricultural societies, women had as much equal status, independence and opportunities in the decision-making structures as their male counterparts. This was evident in the ownership of resources and distribution which was egalitarian (Engels, 1983), and even where they had relation on land as man's sister, wife or daughter, they controlled produces of land and management (Mbilinyi, 1978) the fact ensured them dignity, freedom and mutual respect. Example from Tanzania is Zaramo Queens.
Women status deteriorated with the advent and growth of private property and class society. Men became the owner of newly invented private property, and women and their subjects, and progressively became owned just as other properties.

During colonialism women's condition was worsened by being discriminated from the new cash economy and also from almost all advantages associated with it, their role being restricted to domestic sphere in most instances (MacGaffey, 1999). At the same time, men became more involved the new economic system,

as well as in other social and political roles, though with differentiated
significance. This elevated the existent patriarch system, through Christian ideology allied by indigenous culture (Okeke, 2001)
The formal education initially brought into colonies by colonialists themselves, for purpose of perpetuating their own production system, was overwhelmingly discriminative against women, while progressively enabling men to occupy positions in the system (Mutua, 1978; MacGaffey, 1998). Largely being provided by missionaries, women household role ideologies were reinforced, and where girls were enrolled for schools, it was aimed at no more than making them good housewives or housekeepers for whites (Mbilinyi, 1978).

Women discrimination and oppression had enduring effects even after independence. Their enrolment into education system kept on lagging behind than that of men both in qualitative and quantitative terms. The educational pyramid persisted reflecting the existing lopsided gender relations with more girls enrolled to primary schools almost at equal ration to boys, although there are some regional discrepancies, the number of the former dramatically falling as going up the ladder (Omari and Mbilinyi, D.A.S., 2000; Pala et al, 1978).

With the introduction of Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 1974/1975 there was a massive girl enrolment that helped offsetting earlier sex and class differences although there were some regional discrepancies (Mbilinyi and Mascarenhas, 1983). As shown in table 1, by 1982 women reached 48.3% as of total enrolment in primary education with the indication of increase of up to 49.7% in 1998.

The statistics also show the discrepancy existing in secondary education where only 34.5% of women were enrolled in 1982. There is however the promising increase at this level whereby in 1998, it rose to 46.5 (URT, June 1999). The number is even lower in the universities and technical schools, as Omari and Mbilinyi, D.A.S (2000) point out, and that women were less than 20% of total enrolment in 1994 at the tertiary level, and 6.6% in technical schools.

Information Technology has emerged in Tanzania in early 1990's. IT was there before, but to few. IT has created new profession and this profession has to be learned. Therefore the numbers of subjects were introduced. This resulted into new wing in education. In secondary schools the subject of computer studies and computer science were introduced and in higher learning different course were introduced as Computer Science in University of Dar es Salaam and Computer Science and Information Technology in
The Institute of Finance Management (IFM).

Table 2 shows the results of computer studies at 'O' level. The participation of women in this subject is very low and their grades are poorer compared to that of male students.
Table 3 shows the results of computer science at 'A' level and the performance and number of women is still poor. The table shows also that the number of women is increasing each year and that is promising.

Chart 1, which is deduced from table 4, shows the percentage enrolment of students in IT based courses and other courses. The chart shows that the number of women enrolled in IT based courses is not differing much from that of women enrolled in other courses.
The number of women enrolment in IFM is still low compared to that of male, this shows that IT based courses like other courses is getting fewer number of female participation.
Chart 2 show students enrolled in IT based course from 1996 to 2003. The chart shows that number of female students enrolment is fewer than that of male students though it increases.

We have seen the number of women increasing in IT based courses in IFM.

In future the number of female enrolment in IT based courses will increase because IT is important field and will be necessary to know. The enrolment will not reach that of men but will increase compare to other higher learning courses.
IT now is used in business and in other important field. Soon it will be used everywhere, from business to social life, from government to hospitals.

Nowadays we have accounting software, human resources software and other software used to automate the normal working activities. Again, IT will be a must to know.
IT and computer subject are now taught in all higher learning course as compulsory subject. All students must have basic knowledge in computer and IT in general. So IT will be taught as a compulsory subject in secondary and primary school like civics and general studies is now. Then every one will have basic knowledge in IT.

The majority of African women are involved in the informal economy. They often do not enjoy equal opportunities with men. The attitudes towards women, by both men and women themselves, have often suppressed the development or advancement of women. The existing sociocultural norms have so far restricted girls' and women's access to education, training and employment in general and therefore IT. Poor grounding in maths and science subjects at primary level, and the lack of exposure to technically oriented subjects, limit their performance in these subjects, and as we have seen IT based subject require a little bit of knowledge in mathematics and logics. Employer's stereotyped attitudes (especially towards working mothers) regarding women's abilities and competence in technical fields mean that few women are recruited. Silent discrimination and stereotyping also exists in many organizations, with the results that even women already in employment are not always given the opportunity to prove their worth (Leigh-Doyle, 1991). Sex-stereotyping on the part of parents, educators, religion, the media and society at large encourage the impression that certain jobs are exclusively for men. Women's own lack of confidence also influences their entry into certain fields and jobs. Often, it is not the technology that is the problem but the economic, social and political structures which keep women in low paid and low status work, whatever the level of technology.
The socially defined jobs for women made them go for subjects with that direction, which did not require higher grades comparing to those regarded as for men requiring higher grades. As the result they end up getting jobs that are economically less paying and of lower status than that of men. In the last instance, women end up in the lower echelons in life, which in social arrangements, are lowly looked at, and lowly paid, hence their low social status. Women sheer disadvantage position in education systems, translated in to their opportunities in the labour markets, have been historically manipulated by not only men but also and mostly, by the system oriented towards property ownership and profitable capital run by men themselves. These explain not only women discrimination in the education system but also their exclusion and oppression in the other social structures and systems.

Women's 'double shift', at home and at work, undoubtedly affects their professional progress. In Africa, the home shift may in many cases include caring for parents, in-laws and younger siblings. In addition, women often have to work twice as hard to prove to men that they are also capable of doing their jobs well. The role of a woman is often taken for granted. There is often a conflict between the three roles of mother, wife and employee, and many feel a sense of guilt and give up employment.

Mayuri Odedra-Straub, Women and Information Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa
http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu37we/uu37we0s.htm

JP Senzige and K. Sarukesi, An Approch to ICT based school education in Tanzania
http://www.ssn.flinders.edu.au/global/afsaap/conferences/2003proceedings/senzige.pdf

Mori, Evance Stanley, Education: A tool for women empowerment?
University of Dar es Salaam.

Miller Esseler and Associates, A country ICT Survey for Tanzania, Final Report.
http://www.sida.se/Sida/articles/9400-9499/9481/tanrep.pdf

Ms. J.Shaidi, Gender Equality and Employment Opportunities.
http://www.tzonline.org/pdf/genderequality101.pdf