Chief Instructor Shellon Lynch: Breaking barriers and empowering women

At the Mahaicony Technical and Vocational Training Centre, 36-year-old Shellon Lynch has established herself not just as an instructor but as a leader and role model.

As the institution’s Chief Instructor, Lynch is on a mission to inspire and guide young women towards careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), a field where she herself had to overcome challenges and uncertainty.

“You might as well love what you do,”Lynch remarked.

She didn’t always see herself in STEM. While attending Bygeval Secondary School, she was unsure of what career path to take. She initially applied to study land surveying at the Government Technical Institute (GTI), but when the programme was full, she was encouraged to pursue computer science instead.

At first, she knew little about programming. “I didn’t understand the aspects of programming,” she recalls. But that quickly changed. She started learning Pascal, a basic programming language, and soon after, technology became her passion. By her second year at GTI, she got her first computer.

“It wasn’t something I wanted to do at first, but I gained a love for it while I was doing it,” Lynch says. That love led her to the University of Guyana, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.

Despite her growing success, Lynch quickly realised that being a woman in STEM came with added challenges.

“You have to work twice as hard as a female in this field,” she says. “You have to constantly prove yourself because there’s always that question—are you capable? Can you actually do this?”

Now, as an instructor and mentor, Lynch uses her experience to encourage young women to push past those doubts. She believes that no one should feel forced into a career they don’t love—especially not because of gender norms.

“If there’s something you love, go for it. At the end of the day, you spend most of your time working—you might as well enjoy what you do,” she says.

She’s also an entrepreneur, running a small business alongside her teaching career. Her goal? To create financial stability and generational wealth, not just for herself, but for future generations.

While she continues to advance in both education and business, her primary focus remains on uplifting young women in STEM.

Lynch believes that one of the biggest barriers to women entering STEM isn’t just in the classroom—it starts at home.

“A lot of girls have dreams, but they don’t pursue them because they aren’t pushed in that direction,” she explains. “If parents don’t see STEM as necessary, they won’t encourage their daughters to go for it.”

She argues that raising awareness should start with parents, teachers, and society as a whole. Without that support, many young women second-guess themselves or abandon their ambitions altogether.

“Some people are not strong enough to push back against what others say,” she notes. “If society keeps telling girls ‘this isn’t a field for you,’ some will start believing it.”

At the Mahaicony Technical and Vocational Training Centre, Lynch and her colleagues are actively working to change perceptions.

“From the moment we go out to recruit students, we encourage girls to join STEM programmes,” she says. “We make sure they know that we have female instructors in engineering and technology—because if other women are doing it, so can they.”

And their efforts are paying off. More young women are enrolling in STEM courses, breaking stereotypes, and proving that gender does not define capability.

“We’ve had a lot of success stories,” Lynch says proudly. “And as an educator, nothing makes you prouder than seeing your students out there doing well.”

When asked what advice she would like to give to the future generation of girls in stem she said “Go for your dreams. Nothing is impossible. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t achieve something.”

With more advocates like Lynch in the education system, the future of STEM in Guyana is looking brighter—one determined young woman at a time. (Italy Ton-Chung)