Empower: An Initiative guiding girls into finance.

LONDON, UK, 2018-Oct-24 — /EPR Network/ — As the world of digital finance and demand for sufficient Fintech education accelerates, so does the need for improved cultural and gender representation in the workplace. With this in mind, the Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship is proud to offer its support for a new initiative from 21C Girls – Empower: AI for Girls, a course promoting the presence of young women in technology.

Held in collaboration with Ngee Ann Polytechnic and SGInnovate and led by 21C girls founder Dr. Ayesha Khanna, the course will provide over 3000 girls with a 3-month series of workshops teaching basic algorithms in Artificial Intelligence needed to solve business problems, and how to apply this in practice. Empower: AI for Girls stands as an important step in challenging gender inequality in finance and technology through education.     

CFTE will assist the programme by offering an in-depth introductory module on AI, taught by Dr. Ayesha Khanna for CFTE’s AI in Finance course. This is part of a continuous effort to demystify technology while empowering learners to achieve new possibilities in business. This follows on from the recent AI in Finance course which similarly taught the role of artificial intelligence as an integral tool in modern financial services.

Diversity a key objective for CFTE

CFTE remains committed to promoting diversity in industry; regardless of ethnicity, race, gender or sexual orientation. This is evidenced by CFTE’s work with a diverse profile of guest speakers and lecturers. Alumni and learners, spanning over 50 different countries and 40% women, form the growing CFTE community today.

CFTE co-founder Tram Anh Nguyen had this to say on the prospect of collaborating with 21C Girls founder Ayesha Khanna on Empower: AI for Girls–

“I am proud to support Ayesha’s mission of providing professional learning to all girls to learn about AI. We support and hope to bring the  next generation to see the opportunities that AI can bring. I wish that this initiative will encourage others to support the growth of young women also.”

Several studies highlight the inequality facing women today, with data showing a significant lack of working women across technological industries – as demonstrated below.

13.6% of ASEAN FinTech companies are women

Recent studies, such as the ‘Fintech Census’ conducted by EY in 2018, indicate a continued male dominance in ASEAN FinTech – only 13.6% employed are women.

This figure coupled with the knowledge that FinTech founders are predominantly male; 86% according to the Census, are sobering pieces of data that illustrate the need for further initiatives accelerating women into the industry.  

Statistics from the Diversity Action Committee (DAC) show just 10.8% of listed Singapore companies have boards with female representation. This data shows there is equally a need for representation at the highest executive levels in the industry.

Additional course information

The Empower Program will launch on the 20th of October 2018 with a pilot class of 25 girls. The course will stretch over 15 weeks and conclude on the 23rd of February 2019. Classes will take place at the Ngee Ann Polytechnic campus. To learn more about the instructors and curriculum please visit www.empower-ai.org/program

AI in Finance is an online accredited course offered by CFTE and Ngee Ann Polytechnic for those who want to understand the applications of Artificial Intelligence in finance and how it is transforming the industry. To read more about the course; its curriculum and lecturers, please visit www.cfte.education/aifinance/

Notes to editors

For further information or interview requests, please contact the CFTE press office: Nicolas Tonnard on nicolas@cfte.education

About CFTE

CFTE is an education platform supported by senior leaders from the largest institutions, startups and universities. It addresses the needs of professionals in finance and technologists to up-skill in a rapidly changing industry being transformed by emerging technologies. For more information, see http://www.cfte.education