Promoting girls in science must be sustained

The need to encourage more girls into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) has become a topical issue in recent times.

This is in recognition of the fact that the world is moving towards science-related fields and education in STEM places one in a better position in terms of career progression, well-paying jobs and, more importantly, support Ghana’s development agenda.

Unfortunately, there is a significant gender gap in the area of STEM, as it is mainly dominated by males as against females.

It is in recognition of this that the annual celebration of International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11, since 2015, as instituted by the United Nations (UN), is very relevant in the global quest to get more women into science-related fields.

The day is observed globally to raise awareness of the contribution of women and girls in the field of science and technology.

It is marked by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and UN-Women, in coordination with civil society institutions, and seeks to promote the participation of women in STEM disciplines.

This year’s global celebration, on the theme: “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Water Unites Us”, was held in New York and focused on women and girls as agents of change, especially towards the fulfilment of the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on clean water and sanitation.

We consider the theme quite appropriate because it is our considered opinion that girls and boys need to play complementary roles in promoting STEM education across the globe and particularly in Ghana.

In Ghana, the odds remain high against females in STEM-related areas, even though currently a number of deliberate steps are being taken to encourage girls to pursue courses in that area.

For instance, initiatives such as the boot camp for girls, STEM clinics for girls, females in STEM, among others, are encouraging moves and attempts to attract girls into STEM-related areas.

Another positive step, which is being implemented by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), is the ‘STEM for Girls’ policy, where the cut off points for courses in STEM have been modified to encourage more girls to pursue courses in STEM fields.

The KNUST also has strong Women in STEM (WiSTEM gh) groups that promote the interest of girls in STEM through mentoring and special programmes such as the annual Girls’ Camp, a unique programme that brings girls from second-cycle institutions to KNUST for mentoring and tutoring in STEM subjects to shore up their interest in the area.

The Daily Graphic commends KNUST for such a deliberate policy, which is worth replicating in other tertiary institutions to encourage more female students to embrace STEM.

But, in 2018, the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation revealed that out of 5,573 researchers in public research institutions, only 1,452, representing 26.1 per cent, were females, and that of the 233 scientists in nuclear science counted in 2018, only 23.2 per cent were women.

The Daily Graphic sees these figures as worrying and believes that as a nation, there is the need for deliberate efforts to push more girls into STEM-related areas by enticing them with scholarships.

Additionally, we believe that role models are critical in motivating others, and that is why we believe that women who are successful in the area of STEM should use themselves as role models for young girls, both in basic and second-cycle institutions, to encourage them to believe in themselves that they too can make it.

The exploits of women such as Marie Curie, the only person to win two Nobel prizes in two separate sciences, and the African-American women Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan who designed NASA’s mission to launch people into space for the first time, at a time when the field was even more male-dominated.

Back home we do have many of such industrious women who have excelled in the field of sciences.

These should be a source of encouragement and motivation for young girls that they are more than capable.

These are good signals, but we believe that time is running out. As the saying goes, time and tide wait for no man.

We cannot risk a future in which women remain under-represented in the sciences. There is, therefore, the need to take urgent and proactive steps to ensure that more women take up the challenge of studying and working in science-related fields.