Unisys played host to 19 female scholars as part of Cell C`s Take a Girl Child to Work initiative on 8 May.
The girls were introduced to the internal workings of Unisys, and advised on careers in a multitude of disciplines, from law to information technology, journalism, marketing, design, call centres and human resources, among others.
Obakeng Tlhapane, head girl of Randfontein High School, said at the end of the day: "Thank you for organising today. We`ve learnt a lot from all the speakers and it`s obvious that Unisys has a lot of girl power."
She added that they had no idea IT had a role to play in every department and industry.
It is hoped that Take Girl Child to Work Day will become an annual event, where adults across SA take females between the ages of 15 and 18, Grade 10, 11, 12, to their place of work. These can be their own daughters or other young relatives or friends. Schools contributed to the day by giving participating girls the day off.
According to Cell C`s Web site, statistics show that more than 50% of SA`s population are women but they only posses 30% of our country`s wealth. The government has bought into the programme and encourages PDI schools to be invited by companies to spend the day with them.
The site says: "We have the most advanced constitution in the world and it makes discrimination on any grounds illegal. But the tradition of women being homemakers exclusively is still very strong. So, most girl children are neither encouraged to think about careers nor educated to be employable.
"Women head most South African households," it says. However, "because so few women have marketable skills, the households they head are the poorest in the country. So many girl children grow up in extreme poverty and expecting to struggle like their mothers. They don`t know that there are other options - or that they have a right to want more.
"There is a need to change all that -Take a Girl Child to Work Day is a step in the right direction. The day will show girl children that they can transform their lives by having a good job and therefore a good income. The day will broaden their horizons. Give them hope. Empower them. And open doors for them."
According to Reuters, economists in the US report that a woman who has a boy out of wedlock is more likely to marry the father than if she has a girl. "The study, by two University of Washington economists, suggests not only that men may value sons more, but that little girls are more likely to grow up poor.
"This study ... found a woman was 42 times more likely to marry the father of her son than she was to marry the father if the child was a girl." Companies such as Unisys that participate in initiatives like Take A Girl Child to Work Day address these issues by encouraging girls and women to achieve their goals in the workplace.
Brenda Faye, strategic marketing analyst at Unisys, told the girls: "IT is one of only two professions I know of where there is no gender problem. The other is medicine."
Diane McCarthy, portfolio sales executive at Unisys, said women in IT have more opportunities today than they previously did, and could more easily reach management level.
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