The Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI) has launched the "Women in Engineering Education and Careers in Benin and Ghana" project in Accra.

The general objective of the project — launched in collaboration with the Ghana Institution of Engineering GhIE, College of Engineering at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin — is to bridge the gender gap in engineering in Ghana and Benin through original research and policy recommendations.

The three-year research will assess trends in female enrolment and participation in engineering courses and careers over the last 40 years, and identify systemic barriers that limit participation of females and under-represented groups in engineering courses and careers.

Recommendations

Recommendations will be developed into strategies to facilitate the elimination of the identified barriers.

The Vice-President of the GhIE, Mr Harold Esseku, and the President of Women in Engineering, Dr Mrs Enyonam Kpekpena, made statements at the launch, and pledged their support and the support of the Institution and members to make it a success.

The principal investigator and project leader, Dr Rose Omari of CSIR-STEPRI, and her team presented the strategy for undertaking the study.

She pledged to work closely with the GhIE to ensure that the institution got the maximum benefit from the project so that the percentage of women in the GhIE would increase from the current seven per cent.

The enrolment figure for females has doubled between 2016 and 2020, and it is expected to increase further as a result of the study.
The project is funded by the Canadian Government through the International Development Research Centre.