EMPOWERING WOMEN THROUGH HIGHER EDUCATION: WOMEN IN STEM IN THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ERA

Abstract

The 21^st century brought forth tremendous changes with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the world was once again united to work on three pillars of development – i.e., economic development, social development, and environmentally sustainable development – at the United Nations under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from 2016 to 2030 to “Leave No One Behind.” Following the progress made with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, 2001-2015) to halve extreme poverty in the Global South compared to the level of 1990s, the world was poised to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030, hence the motto, “Leave No One Behind.” However, the COVID-19 Pandemic that swept through the world since 2020 created havoc and led to increases in extreme poverty for the first time since the 1990s. It was not just the SDGs that was put on hold, but the whole world froze in the face of a small virus. The countries in the Global North, which used to support the countries in the Global South in previous pandemics, closed their borders and were inward-looking desperately trying to save their own people, who were also affected by the pandemic.