This is the 26th post in a blog series to be published in 2022 by the Secretariat on behalf of the AU High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies (APET) and the Calestous Juma Executive Dialogues (CJED)

Science, technology, and innovation (STI) are prerequisites to accomplishing the African Union's (AU) Agenda 2063. The complexity of challenges facing Africa is impacting the continent's socio-economic development and growth and impeding the full potential of the standard of living for most Africans. However, this can be addressed by encouraging local innovations, technological breakthroughs, and advancements.[1] Regrettably, the lack of investments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has impeded Africa's skills development to steer the continent's socio-economic transformation. Fundamentally, African countries are missing the requisite scientific and technological capabilities to apply STI for meaningful innovation-led and knowledge-based socio-economic development effectively.

The advent of the 4th industrial revolution (4IR) presents immense potential for the African continent to leapfrog its STI potential. However, despite this enormous potential for Africa to excel in STI-related socioeconomic development and growth, African women remain underrepresented. This has further derailed the full exploitation of STI development and growth in Africa. Notably, a strong involvement of women and girls in STEM at all educational levels is necessary for Africa to harness 4IR-enabled socio-economic development and growth effectively. Unfortunately, despite making up half of the population, women are still underrepresented within STEM fields.[2]

In efforts to enhance the participation of women in Africa's STI-enabled socio-economic development and growth, the AU has augmented some empowerment programmes toward gender equality. For example, the AU proclaimed 2015 the Year of Women's Empowerment and Development Towards the African Union's Agenda 2063.[3] Furthermore, the AU has adopted frameworks such as the Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024) to boost the participation of women in STI-enabled socio-economic development and growth.[4] For example, efforts such as affording women and girls equal opportunities to pursue STEM-related career paths can substantively benefit Africa. This can potentially close the gender pay gap, improve women's economic security, ensure a diverse and competent STEM workforce, and prevent biases in these disciplines and the products and services they generate.[5]

A high proportion of African women researchers are exhibiting and experiencing concerning inequalities. For example, as an indicator of gender inequalities, the overall rate of women's participation inequalities in STEM research was 34% in 2016 across the African continent.[6] However, 52% of researchers in Cape Verde were reported to be female. But this is higher than the 47% participation of women in STEM in Tunisia and 40% of South African and Ugandan women. On the other hand, Guinea has only 6% of female researchers, Ethiopia with 7.6%, Mali with a rate of 10.6%, and Côte d'Ivoire at 16.5%.[7] Notably, Senegal is experiencing a similar pattern, with women being underrepresented in the scientific community and the institutions' decision-making bodies.[8]

The limited gender equity and gender-supporting practices in many research and academic institutions are some of the obstacles women in science face. Other obstacles include the implicit gender bias towards men during the hiring process, inadequate institutional oversight of women's representation in STEM activities, and limited institutional initiatives to facilitate work-life balance for females in STEM. Additionally, women experienced longer delays in finishing their postgraduate studies, such as Masters' and Doctoral degrees. Some women struggle to build a solid publishing record due to societal and gender conventions.[9]

The African Union High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies (APET) advises African Union Member States to create an enabling environment to ensure the full participation of women and girls in STEM-related activities. This includes establishing STEM-related policy frameworks such as increased funding for training and mentorship required to pursue leadership positions in scientific fields. In addition, APET advises that it remains critical to offer STEM personnel an enabling workplace that promotes work-life balance. This can be accomplished by establishing and implementing gender-friendly policy frameworks, such as offering childcare services at the place of employment and career re-entry programmes. This can motivate women scientists to continue working even after interruptions such as starting a family and having children.

Additionally, APET emphasises the need for additional efforts to incorporate gender equity into STEM education by empowering female STEM teachers. This can encourage young girls to enrol in STEM-related career paths. In addition, role models and mentorship programmes should be promoted to encourage younger girls to pursue STEM-related career paths. Deploying role models can boost girls' participation in STEM education and have the role models act as mentors to tell their success stories to motivate young girls. The role models can also act as catalysts for the young girls to discover their STEM career path interests earlier in their career trajectories.[10]

APET further advises  African countries to implement learning resources that can positively portray the girl child in STEM-related careers. Most textbooks currently feature a male scientist-biased curriculum and only depict women in non-essential and less skilled STEM career paths. For example, women will be expected to be secretaries instead of executive directors and chief executive officers, laboratory assistants instead of laboratory managers, and nurses instead of medical doctors within the medical field.[11] However, women are capable of these jobs as they are as talented and capable of such responsibilities as men. Such positive and empowering depictions can help African countries cultivate interest in STEM education much earlier in their career. Since males are encouraged early enough to seek jobs in STEM, early interventions remain essential for addressing the gender-based gaps in STEM.[12]

Building and strengthening the capacity of STEM teachers should be a top priority for African policymakers. African countries should specifically provide tools and capacity to strengthen STEM teachers to promote peer-to-peer education, hands-on activities, and role models mentorship programmes. Furthermore, changes to classroom dynamics that are teacher-attentive and gender-responsive should be implemented and address gender stereotypes.

African countries should adequately address STEM barriers to empower young girls and women in STI. APET suggests that African countries should formulate and implement purposeful policy frameworks for equitable opportunities for females in STEM-related opportunities. This includes enhancing STEM-related competencies from early childhood until higher education to keep pace with the prevalent and rapidly expanding global digital technology economy.

For example, strategic gender equality in STEM policy and implementation should nurture equality in scientific careers, guarantee gender balance in decision-making processes and bodies, and incorporate the gender dimension in research and innovation content.[13] APET suggests that this can be accomplished by establishing a legal and policy environment that can afford incentives to eradicate legal and other barriers to the recruitment, retention, and career progression of female STEM researchers, teachers, administrators, and innovators. The enabling environment can also address gender imbalances in decision-making processes and support the gender dimension in research and innovation programmes and activities.[14]

APET is also encouraging African countries to partner with funding agencies, research and innovation institutions and universities to promote and advance cultural and institutional changes in gender inclusivity. This can reward charters, performance agreements and awards. This includes ascertaining that at least 50% of women can participate in committees involved in recruitment and career progression and creating, implementing, and evaluating research and innovation programmes.[15] Therefore, APET suggests that African countries and institutions should foster sustainable cultural and institutional changes within their strategic national action plans to influence the outputs of research and innovation institutions. As such, the AU Member States can facilitate research funding institutions that can provide incentives to promote higher education institutions and research organisations to amend and modify their gender-mainstreaming strategies with adequate resources.[16]

Finally, APET encourages African countries to appoint women to decision-making bodies in STEM, such as scientific and administrative boards, recruitment and promotion committees, and evaluation panels. This will allow for gender equality in positions of leadership and decision-making. This will improve the gender balance of full professors in higher education institutions while also assisting in the monitoring and evaluation of appropriate indicators for implementing gender policies and actions at the institutional, national, and AU levels. Gender awareness and capacity-building tools should also be available to achieve institutional changes and create flexible and family-friendly working conditions and arrangements for both men and women. Finally, gender bias should be eliminated in performance reviews and assessments for researchers and innovators.

 

Featured Bloggers – APET Secretariat

Justina Dugbazah

Barbara Glover

Bhekani Mbuli

Chifundo Kungade

Nhlawulo Shikwambane

 

[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00492-x.

[2] https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2022/02/10/making-the-future-of-african-stem-female/.

[3] https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/31358-doc-au_echo_january_2015.pdf.

[4] https://www.sei.org/featured/women-in-stem-promoting-womens-participation-in-science-in-africa/.

[5] https://www.aauw.org/resources/research/the-stem-gap/.

[6] https://www.afdb.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/africa_gender_index_report_2019_-_analytical_report.pdf.

[7] https://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/lets-accelerate-women-stem-agenda-today-tomorrow-will-be-too-late.

[8] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0265413.

[9] https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2020/01/World-Social-Report-2020-FullReport.pdf.

[10] https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2022/02/10/making-the-future-of-african-stem-female/.

[11] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/04/women-stem-africa-science-gender-education-tech.

[12] https://www.skillsportal.co.za/content/more-sa-girls-are-seizing-opportunities-stem.

[13] https://rea.ec.europa.eu/news/tackling-gender-equality-research-and-innovation-2022-03-07_en.

[14] GENDER EQUALITY IN ACADEMIA AND RESEARCH, GEAR tool, EIGE’s Gender Mainstreaming Platform, http://eige.europa.eu/gendermainstreaming.

[15] https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/toolkits/gear/gender-equality-recruitment-and-career-progression.

[16] Jackson, J. C., Payumo, J. G., Jamison, A. J., Conteh, M. L., & Chirawu, P. (2022). Perspectives on Gender in Science, Technology, and Innovation: A Review of Sub-Saharan Africa's Science Granting Councils and Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Frontiers in research metrics and analytics, 7, 814600. https://doi.org/10.3389/frma.2022.814600.