STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, as well as allied fields. In Africa, women and girls participating in STEM are at the world average.
Gender disparities in science continue to prevent women and girls from succeeding and properly contributing to development concerns.
The good news is that some of the major causes of gender inequality in STEM education areas are well-understood and can be addressed.
Women’s responsibilities are no longer restricted to getting married, producing children, and caring for the home while men rule the globe.
Even when women entered the labor market to earn money, they were limited to particular occupations, but today, African women can compete in STEM fields, which have allegedly traditionally been dominated by men.
These six African women are working hard to promote STEM education
Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji
Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji is a human development specialist and social entrepreneur from Nigeria, whose work spans entrepreneurship, education, youth development, and public leadership.
She is the founder and CEO of Rise Networks, a Nigerian social company that is sponsored by both the private and public sectors.
Passnownow was developed by Akerele-Ogunsiji in 2012 with the goal of assisting destitute and disadvantaged secondary school students in accessing and using Curriculum Compliant Education Content from the convenience of their mobile devices, Her own way of encouraging STEM education.
She also launched Printmagicng, a printing company that provides low-cost printing services to small businesses 24 hours a day, seven days a week via the Internet.
Ohemaa Adjei Andoh
Ohemaa Adjei Andoh, who was born in Ghana, is a trained Transformational Facilitator and the creator of Girls in Science and Technology (GIST), an organization that promotes women and girls in STEM fields.
They achieve this by displaying a representation of Ghanaian women in STEM to inspire younger girls; they think that what you see is what you become.
Mentorship, coaching, and internship programs are also available through the organization for young women in STEM.
She was the Women in Engineering President/Commissioner Women’s for the College of Engineering at KNUST during her stay there.
She founded the Girls in Science and Technology organization (GIST). Ohemaa Adjei Andoh was named the best female geological engineering student.
She worked for Schlumberger, an Oil and Gas Service Company, for six years after graduation, where she was certified as a Stimulations Engineer and afterward as a Cementing Engineer.
Larisa Bowen-Dodoo
Larisa Bowen-Dodoo is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Levers in Heels, Africa’s foremost digital platform spotlighting growing African women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Larisa also assists the British Council in Ghana with the implementation of its Social Enterprise initiative.
Levers in Heels is an initiative I recently launched to encourage, connect, and construct a record of Ghanaian women in STEM-related jobs using social media.
Larisa is also a mentor for Tech Needs Girls Ghana, a group for young Ghanaian women interested in pursuing careers in technology. She runs the Levers in Heels mentorship program and blogs about it.
Tope Ogundipe
Tope is the Founder/Director of TechSocietal Consulting, a social enterprise that specializes in the management of technology policy programs for the greater good.
TechSocietal works to promote human rights, freedoms, gender equality, and inclusion through technology and/or digital policies, programs, and goods.
She is a digital rights advocate who has worked on initiatives with the Worldwide Web Foundation that include research and policy advocacy on gender mainstreaming in national ICT policies.
To enhance digital access and resilience, Tope collaborates with regional and international networks such as the Alliance for Affordable Internet, the IGF Best Practice Forum (On Gender and Access), the African Internet Rights Alliance, and the Net Rights Africa Coalition.
Dorothy Okello
Dorothy Okello is the director of innovation at Makerere University’s School of Public Health’s ResilientAfrica Network (RAN).
RAN, which is funded by USAID, aims to explore, develop, and scale creative solutions that will help African communities cope with natural and man-made shocks and pressures.
This is accomplished through the application of science, technology, innovation, and collaborations, as well as the use of evidence-based techniques.
She is a proponent of involving more women, small businesses, and rural areas in development innovation, and she has the ability to comprehend and balance both community and technological goals.
Uchenna Onwuamaegbu-Ugwu
She is the founder of Edufun Technik, a Social Enterprise dedicated to providing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education to children and youth aged 3 to 18 in impoverished regions in Eastern Nigeria.
She makes it a point to have 60% of her students and clients be female. Uchenna also focuses on helping her students develop their potential, skills, and abilities by giving exceptional hands-on instruction in coding, design thinking, engineering, and robotics, as well as assisting them to make informed STEM career options that will propel them towards a bright future in STEM.
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