New Era unveils roundtable talk panel
Kabelo Boranabi | Thursday June 12, 2025 10:27
The fifth Annual New Era College Women in Engineering Roundtable Talk is to be held in the BTV Studio on June 23 under the theme, 'Mentorship Matters: Building Stronger Networks for Women Engineers.' The New Era College Women in Engineering Roundtable Talk is to be followed by a gala dinner on the evening of the day as New Era College joins in the International Women in Engineering Day celebrations. Speaking at panellist unveiling media session held this week, New Era College's Public Relations and Partnerships Manager, Kgosi Moremong explained the thought behind the day-event. He said it came after the realisation that enrollment in New Era College is skewed towards the male students in the Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM). Moremong added the purpose of the event is to encourage more girl students to take up the space in the male dominated engineering field.
'We want to girl students to take up engineering and transform it from being male dominated environment. Other than our enrollment numbers being skewed, studies have shown that diverse teams, organisations with diverse teams are more profitable and more successful when there is diversity in voices.
'So in the engineering field in particular, men dominate it, so we feel like this is a tension where engineering firms in the environment can transform so that if they want to be profitable, this is one of the ways,' he said.
Minerals and Energy minister, Bogolo Kenewendo, is to deliver the keynote address on the day as the New Era College enlists a high profile panel of speakers.
The list includes, regional development advisor at Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Taboka Motlhabane and Dr Mmoloki Makoba who is a lecturer at the University of Botswana (UB).
The panel also includes, Department of Broadcasting Services (DBS)'s chief technical officer, Moopedi Lesedi Molapisi, also the co-founder of Women in Energy Botswana, Keleadile Ruda and lastly Sebaga Mabua who is a geological engineer at Recon Africa.
Moremong also said the fifth Annual New Era College Women in Engineering Roundtable Talk is to address several topics.
They include the role of mentorship in advancing women's careers in engineering, creating culture of support with bridging the gap between seasoned engineers and new engineers, and peer-to-peer mentorship building informal networks among others.