Women supporting women

Mentorship and sharing of experiences will form a key part of discussions about how to boost the number of women in leadership and senior positions within Africa’s higher education sector when African women vice-chancellors meet for their annual symposium from 2-6 December.

The meeting of the Forum for African Women Vice Chancellors (FAWoVC) is being staged alongside the annual general meeting of the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) to be held at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana.

RUFORUM is a consortium of 114 African universities in 38 countries. The annual general meeting brings together key figures from Africa’s higher education sector to discuss best practice, and disseminate information, knowledge and innovations. The meeting is an opportunity for participants to discuss African universities’ plans to expand their science, technology and innovation services with scientists, researchers and students.

Professor Mary Okwakol, chairperson of FAWoVC, and executive director of the Uganda National Council for Higher Education and former vice-chancellor of Uganda’s Busitema University, said when the women vice-chancellors’ forum was created in 2016, it specifically focused on finding new strategies through which women vice-chancellors could boost the number of women teaching and studying science, technology and innovation-focused subjects in universities.

It was also created to promote training for career scientists in organisational leadership and management.

“The symposium, among other things, is intended to train the vice-chancellors in science, technology and innovation leadership management so they are equipped to champion gender-inclusive participation of women in science in their various institutions,” Okwakol told University World News.

There will be two key sessions at the Ghana symposium: one involving female university leaders discussing the promotion of gender inclusiveness in science, technology and innovation within African universities; and a second involving young and upcoming female scientists and students who will have in-depth interactions with both male and female university leaders about overcoming challenges impeding progress for women scientists.

Senior female leadership numbers

Although women’s access to higher education across Africa has been improving, the number of women academics and higher education leaders remains low compared to the number of men. Patriarchal attitudes, a failure by university administrators to see women as capable leaders, and traditional demands on women to rear children are some of the challenges.

According to Okwakol, there are only 40 women vice-chancellors heading up the roughly 1,500 universities across Africa.

The figure is not any better when it comes to the representation of women academics in science, technology and innovation across Sub-Saharan Africa: currently this figure stands at just 31% of all positions, according to Okwakol, citing UNESCO figures.

“This is a drop in the ocean when we are talking about getting more women to hold leadership positions. We still have a lot of work to do as a continent to change this,” she said.

When she took over as the first vice-chancellor of Busitema University in 2009, Okwakol proposed that at least 30% of admissions be reserved for female students. This became official university policy. Okwakol said the university has since revised that policy to 50%, provided there are enough female students who meet the academic qualifications to be admitted to any of the university’s programmes.

Under Okwakol, the university also initiated a scholarship programme to pay tuition fees for academically gifted but financially disadvantaged women admitted to any of the university’s academic programmes.

During her time as vice-chancellor, the university also partnered with the Forum for African Women Educationalists and the Mastercard Foundation to implement a bridging programme whereby academically gifted but financially disadvantaged students from the poorer regions of Uganda receive full bursaries to pursue degree programmes in science-related courses.

While the programme targets both male and female students, Okwakol said 75% of the beneficiaries have been female students. The programme is also operating in two other Ugandan science-based universities – Gulu University and Mbarara University of Science and Technology.

So far, 20 students have benefited from the programme at Busitema University and the university has also mainstreamed gender issues into the university curriculum.

Role of women leaders

Okwakol is confident that groupings like FAWoVC could help other universities to boost female participation in science and innovation.

“University leaders are well placed to address the gender gaps in science, technology and innovation. However, at present, most of them are men. Women in top leadership positions can inspire and mentor upcoming academics. They would also be well placed to offer advice on how to overcome challenges along the academic path. And female leaders could be in positions where they can influence policies within their institutions and at the national levels,” Okwakol said.

FAWoVC is currently undertaking a study to understand the gender gaps in science, technology and innovation in Mozambique, Sudan and Uganda. The findings will be shared in Ghana, and will be used to help frame the agenda for discussion.

“Although the study is being conducted in three African countries, the recommendations will be applicable across the continent because the challenges are often similar,” said Okwakol.

The study will also help the symposium develop and implement a mentorship programme for new female academics in the three countries.

Meanwhile, Okwakol stressed that universities and governments need to enact deliberate policies that favour women and girls.

Strategies to improve female participation

This starts by ensuring that girls have access to, and stay in, secondary education, creating school programmes that increase their access to science and other academic programmes at bachelor level, and ensuring that once they arrive at university, women and girls who want to pursue careers in academia and research are actively supported. Professional career development programmes could include affirmative action, such as scholarships, that specifically target women.

Dropping age limits for applicants would help, said Okwakol: “When scholarships are advertised, most of them have age limits. When a woman drops out of work to raise children and then returns, she is often … above the age limit for courses.”

Practical training in research management, proposal and scientific writing, especially for graduate students and mid-level career scientists, would also help female academics to advance, she said.

Regional initiatives

Okwakol said initiatives such as RUFORUM’s education funding support for women in higher education have also boosted the number of women with scientific skills and qualifications. A RUFORUM note said the programme has increased enrolment of women in masters and PhD programmes in agriculture across its network of Sub-Saharan African universities from 4% in 1992 to 45% by 2018.

So far, the programme has funded 525 PhD and 1,919 masters students in Africa. This includes men and women, but in 2004, only 20% of MSc and 12% of PhD students receiving RUFORUM grants were female. By 2018, this figure had increased to 45% female students under both the PhD and MSc programmes.

Okwakol also highlighted the role of the Higher Education Resource Services in South Africa (HERS-SA).

Through its programmes, HERS-SA, an NGO, supports and equips female academics with skills, helping them to build confidence to advance their careers. The programme has recently been replicated in East Africa, where it is called Higher Education Resources Services – East Africa (HERS-EA) and operates in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, providing leadership and management development training for women at higher education institutions.