An internal report at Hewlett-Packard revealed that women only apply for open jobs if they think they meet 100 percent of the criteria listed. Men apply if they think they meet 60 percent of the requirements. This difference has a huge ripple effect. Women need to shift from thinking 'I'm not ready to do that' to thinking 'I want to do that — and I'll learn by doing it.

An internal report at Hewlett-Packard revealed that women only apply for open jobs if they think they meet 100 percent of the criteria listed. Men apply if they think they meet 60 percent of the requirements.

Real-world data going back to the 1980s suggest that, although fewer women apply for jobs in fields such as maths, physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering, those who do apply are no less likely to be interviewed and no less likely to be offered the job. On the contrary, they are generally more likely to be.

If you are competent enough to do the job you will be employed irrespective of gender, which is a quality that very few companies in the industry have.

As a strong advocate of advancing women in all positions, from boardroom to politics, I however also believe that while quotas are welcome, we have to be careful not to just put women in positions for the sake of filling the quotas. We have to have women fill these positions because they are qualified and capable of doing the job. Because if they are not, then we create a situation where it’s like, “look we gave a woman a chance but she couldn’t do the job”. So we have to make sure women are ready when the quotas come, because we are able, we are capable, we are qualified and have the right skills.

So as a female, you have to prove yourself beyond reasonable doubt that you can do it. You do extra because you are a female to prove that you can do it compared to your male colleagues who probably don’t need to prove themselves.

A man will say, ‘Oh, there’s that job, I’m going for it.’ A woman says, ‘Well, geez, maybe I need three more classes in college.’ Right? A woman is always worried that they’re not prepared enough and men just go for it

Some people still believe that a woman is less intelligent, less competent and less skilful in carrying out certain tasks. But this is an office environment; I do not need brutal force to carry out my assignment. What I need basically is competence. I need computer literacy and sound education, which in my view, I have acquired from some of the world’s most renowned academic institutions. I am qualified and can adapt and fit into anywhere and deliver on my mandate in the most professional manner

‘Yes. The facility declares the gender balance concept when they open the call for proposals or fellowships for training or users’ meetings or all the events related to SESAME. Women are strongly encouraged to apply.

We are not saying gender should be the only decider when you want to vote for people in office, merit has to matter. I’m convinced that there are women who are qualified. What we are saying is, where you have women who are qualified but due to situation of things, men have the money and women can’t compete.

If a women is capable, deserving of a position of authority, then her gender should not be an issue. She should be judged on the basis of her ability and her competence and not because she is a woman.

What should be important is the fact that you are the best man or woman for the job and if you are you should be appointed.

I think it’s also important to show that it doesn’t have to be a male terrain completely, if there are competent women, we should give them positions on merit. But don’t look down on somebody and say, she is a woman, she can’t do it or he’s a man, he can’t do it. That would be a wrong attitude.

When people push for a quota for a woman among invited speakers for example, I feel terrible as it is a conscious bias. In joint grant application preparation, many investigators think women should not be the Principal Investigators, citing society-assigned roles to women to manage welfare issues and not be a chief planner.