Good People, join me to thank Engr Dele Olajiga. M.Eng,(MNIAE),(Ph.D Scholar) for providing FULL scholarships to 20 undergraduate students of Federal University of Technology, Akure. Since ASUU extended its strike in Nigeria, hundreds of students have joined Tekedia CollegeBoost, a mini-MBA for students, and most are enrolled via scholarships funded by our fellow citizens.

We thank leaders like Engr Dele and others for giving our young people the opportunity to be academically engaged during the ASUU strike.

Tekedia Institute has structures in most universities and polytechnics in Nigeria. Our program manager, Eyitayo Adeleke, mMBA, knows the SUG presidents. Once a scholarship is available for a school, he works with the SUG leadership for the selection. This makes it very fast with no need of going through formal school bureaucracies. So, if you want to sponsor, reach out to him.

Since we are still in the international women’s day week, I am considering the reality of biases that exist in job roles. How we still get to find male-dominated sectors or companies, and some female-dominated careers as well.

The issue of biases with job roles does not start in the workplace. It starts right from the homefront and the society children are raised. Very early in life, children are exposed to biases in very subtle comments, and sometimes, blatant actions. Gradually, the minds are conditioned to phrases like “that is a man’s job”, “you are a girl, you can’t do this”, “it is only men that become this…” and the likes. Though subtle, these comments come with pressures of different kinds, so that the girl gets all kinds of discouragement if she even takes the first step into the male-dominated career.

This gradually creeps into the workplace, so that at some point, it subtly becomes the culture. New staff can be employed today, and in three days or less, she has heard comments like “we have never had a female MD in this company”, or “the head of technical operations always goes to a man” and so on. It may also extend to include the dominant belief in the society where that company or business is based.

All of these factors combine to first box the females up, and then gradually push some of them to a situation where they now box themselves up. Unconsciously, the environment and dominant beliefs around them seep through and begin to affect the way they think about themselves and their capabilities.

So, even though a lady has an interest in going for an MBA course, she allows herself to get discouraged. After all, females are never appointed MDs in this company. They end up restricting themselves to those roles they think they can do, those roles that society has told them they can excel in. They allow these biases to define the ceiling and wall of their achievements and remain within that confine.

This has to change. It is time females started stepping out and engaging in bigger challenges. Thankfully, we have lots of females who are breaking these biases and raising the bar higher for women with every new milestone they achieve. But this is nothing compared to the number of women who still stay within the safe box, limiting themselves to what they feel comfortable in.

Women are born natural leaders and managers, and this plays out in their homes. The woman manages her spouse, her children, and the limited resources. The issue is bringing this to bear in the workplace.

Women should become more competitive, enough to gun for higher positions even if there has never been any female in such a position before. Get the qualification needed and go compete on that level. Do not be afraid to be the first woman to walk that path. The world is becoming more liberal, and the workplace is becoming highly result-driven. So, if you are the most qualified person, if you are the one who can deliver the needed results, you will get it whether you are male or female. You only need to bring yourself out and show what you can do. Do it better, and show that you can do it better than anyone else.

The woman incorporates space, and in business will have to become more adventurous and more daring. Learn new things. Take on bigger challenges, and crush them or learn from them. A lot more will change when the woman expands her vision, with bigger dreams and bigger determination.

Interestingly, the average woman can juggle a lot more things than her male counterparts. You would be amazed to see the number of women who combine running a home, keeping a full-time job, a part-time job, and still find the time for some social work or volunteering. That gives you a clear picture of how much more is possible if the woman chooses to come out of the shadows that these biases keep her in.

I like the impact women are making in entrepreneurship too, especially in social entrepreneurship. More can be done. There is enough space for every woman to stretch out her wings and soar.