How Dada Stem founder is bridging gender gap in tech
Kawira Muchunku, the founder of Dada Stem, an initiative bridging the gender gap in Stem by driving the inclusion of women.
What you need to know:
- When she realised how male-dominated the tech space was, as a teenager looking for courses to pursue on campus, she resolved to break the stereotype.
- But while undertaking her internship, she experienced first hand how women are sidelined in the workplace.
Having grown up in rural Tharaka Nithi County, she describes herself as a village girl. But unlike any other village girl, she is changing the narrative about women in the science field, one academic achievement at a time.
Kawira Muchunku, a 29-year-old computer science doctoral student, has never been one to allow herself to be boxed in. Even as a little girl, she made sure to challenge the status quo. “Whenever I was told 'you cannot do this or that,' my question was always 'why?'”
When she realised how male-dominated the tech space was, as a teenager looking for courses to pursue on campus, she resolved to break the stereotype. But while undertaking her internship, she experienced first hand how women are sidelined in the workplace.
“One time at work, we were required to climb up to a ceiling to lay network cables, but my boss stopped me. And I wondered why, yet I had spent four years in class just like my male counterparts.”
And while there was nothing she could do then, she felt motivated more than ever before to follow her dreams, rise within the ranks and shatter the glass ceiling.
It is for this reason that she has participated in empowerment programmes such as the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs, Ms President and the Learnaholics Academy Africa to better her personal and leadership skills.
A challenge that she faced at the start of her career was the lack of women mentors and role models. This drove her to found Dada Stem, an initiative aimed at increasing the number of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem).
Through the platform, women in science share their experiences and challenges at work. She also organised the first ever county conference to link newcomers to a network of Stem mentors.
Additionally, she conducts introductory coding courses to girls in primary school in the hope of breaking the myth that they cannot handle Stem courses. She credits her family – especially her father, a doctor – for setting a standard of excellence and for always offering a supportive shoulder to lean on.
The Ms President Season Two contestant has big dreams. She is working towards a solar-powered computer on the wheels project to be able to traverse the entire county to reach more children when they are at home for holidays. The biggest takeaway for Ms Muchunku from her time in the industry is that women can do it.
“We can excel in these spaces. I and others are already proving it. Science courses can be tasking, but if women put in the work, they will succeed.”
