The Startup Weekend this year will provide more opportunities for women in the technology industry, particularly those just developing their ventures, an organizer of the event said.
Although men are still welcome to join the workshop and pitch business ideas, Mary Rose Ofianga, founder of Womenpowered institute, said during the Wednesday @ Habi at Kape – Abreeza said that they have set aside 90% of the slots to women entrepreneurs for the three-day event which opens on September 28.
Ofianga said the event will allow women in the industry to, “gain confidence particularly in making business decisions.”
“We (women) are not well represented and there are a lot of challenges that women entrepreneurs or founders are experiencing like the lack of mentors and female role models in the entrepreneur ecosystem,” she added, pointing out that the event will push women to turn their business ideas into reality.
Ofianga said that the Philippine society has continued to label women as just supporting cast, not the key stakeholders in the industry.
“Mostly in family corporations, it is the man who decides, who is the CEO (chief executive officer), who is the founder, and the (women) are the accountants and the cashier,” Ofianga said.
She also added that it is still a reality that women globally are discriminated in the work place particularly in terms of salary because even if they have the same skills and abilities with their male counterparts, they still receive lower salaries compared with the latter.
Last December, the Startup Weekend provided participants with a venue to meet and discuss possible partnership as it became the window for networking among startup entrepreneurs.
