Scientists worried about disproportionate female population in higher education

Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (WiSTEM) say the unbalanced female population in higher education does not auger well for the country.

The Kwame Nkrumah Univesity of Science and Technology’s Organizing Committee is particularly worried about low female post-graduate enrollment at the university.

Speaking at a get-together for female scientists in Kumasi, Prof, Atinuke Adebanji said “The funny thing is that if you come to the medical school, the engineering the girls get all the awards, but if you come to the postgraduate class, they are not there and you ask yourself, where have they disappeared to,” she questioned.

Though she admits tertiary institutions have done well in increasing female admission, she maintains they can do more.

Prof Adebanji blames the low interest in mathematics by children in their formative years on poor teaching methodologies.

She therefore advocates intensified mentoring and innovation in instruction to whip up interest, adding, “Most of the time, we kill the interest when they start.”

The ceremony brought together women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics within KNUST community.

It provided a platform to exchange ideas and charting a path for a collective evolvement, as key stakeholders in national development.

WiSTEM focuses on achieving active involvement of female scientists in leadership within the Ghanaian context.

“We want to create an avenue so that the next generation can look up to us and say that science is not just one sided and that women and men can do science and enjoy science,” said Prof Mrs. Ibok Nsa Oduro, Provost College of Science, KNUST.