Rabat – The IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Summit at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, held on November 16 and 17, brought together women in engineering, technology, and science.
The event celebrated their accomplishments and sparked a vision for a future where their impact reaches beyond innovation. Discussion at the summit underscored a shared theme: the power of combining technology, entrepreneurship, and gender equality as a driving force for economic development and innovation.
Under the theme “Empowering Women in Technology: Fostering Innovation for Sustainable Impact and Entrepreneurship,” the summit steered the narrative towards a powerful intersection of technology and entrepreneurship.
Speaking to Morocco World News, Business and Life Coach Franziska Laurien, emphasized the event’s significance for women, particularly in the fields of technology and entrepreneurship.
She applauded the university for integrating both engineering and entrepreneurship into the curriculum, recognizing the importance of creating a workforce that is not only technically skilled but also business-savvy.
Emphasizing the crucial need for graduates skilled in both engineering and business, Laurien envisioned a landscape where these individuals could lead their own startups. For her, this aligns with Morocco’s push for economic growth and women’s rights.
‘Society is both men and women’
In addition, she drew attention to Morocco’s economic loss due to the low participation rate of women, standing at around 20%.
“Society is both men and women. And if you have a society where you have only men that are participating in the development of the society, this is an unbalanced society,” she said.
Highlighting the advantages of entrepreneurship for women, Laurien said it can help women balance professional and family life, a perspective she found particularly “innovative.”
Meryem Kassou, CEO of Digitis, shared her experience as an entrepreneur in the tech field, underlining the importance of encouraging women to enter the male-dominated tech industry.
In this respect, she emphasized the “advantageous” position Morocco has compared to other countries regarding the percentage of female engineers, standing at 42% in the North African country.
During the International Entrepreneurship Summit, Kassou discussed challenges and opportunities for women in entrepreneurship.
Overcoming barriers
She particularly highlighted the need to address the gender gap in the tech industry and to encourage women to access this field. Kassou stressed the importance of acknowledging and seizing the numerous opportunities available for women to embark on their entrepreneurial journeys.
“We have to keep in mind that there are many opportunities for women to start their journey in the entrepreneurship field,” she said.
For his part, CEO of LA startup Station Mehdi Alaoui participated in a dynamic panel as part of the ongoing summit to discuss women’s entrepreneurship.
Highlighting the challenges and opportunities in the field, Alaoui emphasized the need to persistently encourage women to venture into the technology sector.
He emphasized that women can be their own primary barrier and encouraged them to overcome self-doubt, challenge themselves, and create their startups. “The only thing that blocks women from creating their entrepreneurship is themselves,” he said.
Alaoui highlighted the importance of achieving a “50-50” gender balance in the entrepreneurship sector, echoing the global demographic distribution. “We are 50-50, so in the entrepreneurship sector, we should be 50-50,” he said.
He called for women to be more “persistent” in seeking mentorship and breaking down any barriers hindering their success in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“They need to override that and overcome these barriers and challenge themselvesto create their startups,” he stressed.
