Seminar on Gender "Experiences of Ghanaian women in STEM fields"

The next session of the seminar « Gender, Behavior and Decision-Making » will take place Tuesday the 4^th of July from 5pm to 6pm online (Teams). The Teams link will be provided in due time.

Registration
The seminar will be held online (Teams event)

We will have the pleasure to listen to Charlotte Wrigley-Asante who will present “Climbing the Leadership ladder: Experiences of Ghanaian women in STEM fields”.

Charlotte Wrigley-Asante is an Associate Professor and current Head of the Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana. She is the immediate past co-Director of the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) and the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA), University of Ghana. She has several years of research experience focusing on the intersections of gender with issues of poverty, urbanization, empowerment and climate change.

She has skills and expertise in gender analysis in addition to collecting and analysing both qualitative and quantitative data and has been involved in several projects focusing mainly on the gendered aspects of the projects including ‘Crime and Poverty Nexus in Urban Ghana’ project as part of Safe and Inclusive Cities (SAIC) Initiative by International Development Research Council (IDRC) Canada; Pan-African College of Urban Sustainability Project, BOSCH Foundation and the Women and Science chair, a Paris Dauphine-PSL University project. Currently, she’s focusing on transforming institutions to advance women leaders in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields.

Abstract

Studies have shown that socio-cultural factors play an important role in the career choices of males and females in Science Technology and Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. This has resulted in the under-representation of females in such fields due to norms and practices at the home, school, and societal levels.

Over the years, the issue of under representation of women in fields has gained both global and national attention and has called for both policy and research attention with several policies and programmes instituted to encourage young females to take up STEM education and pursue STEM careers. Whilst progress has been made in terms of STEM enrollment and females’ interest in STEM fields, the situation appears challenging for those pursuing STEM careers especially as they progress into leadership positions.

This presentation will focus on stakeholders’ perspectives on the factors that influence the occupational pathways of Ghanaian women in STEM fields. It will highlight the factors that influence women’s entry into STEM fields, opportunities and challenges along their career paths whilst sharing the views of stakeholders’ on measures that will advance women into leadership positions in their respective STEM fields.

About the Women & Science Chair

The Women and Science Chair at Université Paris Dauphine - PSL, created with the support of the L’Oréal Foundation, the Generali Foundation, La Poste, and the Talan Group, seeks to engage and foster interdisciplinary approaches to analyzing the causes and consequences of the underrepresentation of women in careers in scientific research and academia.

The Women and Science Chair is member of the UNESCO chairs network.

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