The Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies (IESS) as Project Lead, in collaboration with three (3) Kenyan institutions; the University of Nairobi, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) and the Women in Water and Sanitation (WIWAS) network, is undertaking a research study on TranSforming InSTitutions to Advance women leadeRS (SISTARS) in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM): Lessons from Ghana and Kenya.
Launching the project, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, noted with delight the project’s aim to advance women’s leadership in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) within industry and institutions. She lauded the project for some peculiarities such as examining the African gender developmental gap, the cross-country nature of the project which would enable the project participants learn from their immediate context as well as from other African contexts, the interdisciplinary approach to the study and the involvement of academic institutions and STEM related industries.
Prof. Amfo said, “It is my expectation that the objectives of this project will be achieved, and the findings or lessons learnt will promote the development of innovative strategies that will help put in place institutional policies, strategic action plans and practices that will truly transform African institutions and industry”.
Delivering his remarks, the Chairman of the event, Prof. Boateng Onwona ‐Agyeman, Provost, College of Basic and Applied Sciences stated, “I am very excited about the fact that female faculty of the College were deeply involved in the project”. He was hopeful that at the end of the two-year project, very important proposals on how to achieve advancement of women leaders in STEM will be identified and recommended.
Dr. Dzidzo Yirenya-Tawiah, Principal Investigator (PI) for the SISTARS project presented an overview of the Project. With evidence from the 2021 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Science report and the Ghana-Alpher-Doger Scientific ranking Index 2022, she alluded to the glaring statistics of women’s under-representation in STEM, while emphasising the limited leadership opportunities for women. Dr. Yirenya-Tawiah mentioned that there is limited data to support the understanding of the issues that create gender and leadership disparity in STEM, especially in developing countries.
The SISTARS Project’s PI explained the major actions to be undertaken during the Project and introduced the team members from Ghana and Kenya. She further acknowledged women STEM leaders from the two countries and expressed immense appreciation to the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada for funding the project.
Prof. Faith Karanja, Kenyan Team Lead, who joined the event virtually, gave the assurance that the partners from Kenya are ready to work hand in hand with their Ghanaian counterparts to “develop similar tools, albeit customising to suit individual situations”.
Mrs. Linda Coffee, Deputy Director, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) represented Mr. Mawutor Ablo, Director, Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, MoGCSP. In the speech she read, the Ministry lauded the project as a worthy one. “The Ministry recognises that achieving SDG Goal 5 by 2030 will require a lot of efforts and partnership thus, this Project will go a long way to support efforts of government to ensure effective mainstreaming in women empowerment in national development”, she said. Mrs. Coffee was also grateful to all the stakeholders for addressing gender inequalities and social injustices in Ghana. The MoGCSP anticipated that the project’s recommendations would be shared with the Ministry to inform future policies and programmes.
In the remarks from the funders, Dr. Katie Bryant, stressed the timeliness of the Project, considering that the University of Ghana has her first female Vice-Chancellor. She gave a brief background of IDRC and indicated that the IDRC is funding five other projects on the African continent in different areas. She noted how important it is that lessons from these projects are shared to shape policy. Dr. Katie Bryant reassured the Project teams of IDRC’s support.
The SISTARS Project team members later held a stakeholder forum.
Present at the launch were Prof. Chris Gordon, Former Director of IESS; Prof. Sandow Mark Yidana, Dean, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences; Prof. Richard Osei-Amponsah, Department of Animal Science; Mrs. Elizier T. Ameyaw-Buronyah, Director, Public Affairs Directorate; Dr. Bruce-Vanderpuye, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Ms. Teresa Bampoh, World Bank.
