A girl in Ethiopia could grow up to engineer a new method for improving agricultural yields, if only she could meet the right mentor. A young woman in Malawi has ideas for new cancer treatments but will never apply them if she is pushed out of school. And a girl in Rwanda has all the skills to create a mathematical model to mitigate droughts; all she needs is a research grant to help her pay for college.
\nThere is a global gender imbalance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics \u2013 the so-called Stem disciplines. But in Africa, this imbalance is doing more than threatening individual futures. It is also depriving the continent of talents and contributions needed to drive development and progress. A 2011 African Development Bank report finds that \u201cgetting women into science and technology ultimately promises to benefit society as a whole\u201d.
\nGender equity in Stem is achievable and many African scholars are showing the world how to do it. But they need help and programmes that offer scholarships and support are among the best ways to achieve parity in the sciences.
\nThe causes of Africa\u2019s Stem gender imbalance are often compared to a leaky pipe: girls start out with interest and aptitude but drop out of the disciplines at various points in their education. Early data from a Mastercard Foundation initiative aimed at reversing these trends show that a comprehensive approach to plugging the leaks can make a difference.
\nSuccess begins with acknowledging that gender equity in Stem matters.
\n\u201cScience needs us\u201d is how Armanda Kouassi, an industrial engineer and former Mastercard Foundation scholar, puts it. \u201cWith different ideas and perspectives come better solutions and thinking that can move scientific innovations forward and benefit the whole of Africa.\u201d
\nKouassi is right. Africa cannot afford to squander its young, female talent. Sub-Saharan Africa faces a shortfall of some 2.5 million engineers, technologists, mathematicians and scientists. This dearth of expertise threatens a number of Sustainable Development Goals such as food security, health care, clean water and sanitation, energy and infrastructure.
\nRemoving gender barriers to Stem requires African governments to make equity in the sciences a priority. Nowhere is this happening more successfully than in Rwanda, where our collective experience has helped more than 1,250 girls and young women excel in Stem disciplines.
\nThe African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), in Rwanda\u2019s capital, Kigali, is one of these agents of change. The school believes that the next Einstein could be an African woman, an educational approach that informs its comprehensive strategy to plug leaks in the Stem development pipeline.
\nAIMS\u2019s innovative approach includes helping governments train teachers, ensure that female students are not vastly outnumbered in their classrooms, support students who are mothers and engage with industry leaders to help graduates succeed in their careers. To attract more female students, 30 percent of the school\u2019s scholarships are reserved for female applicants and the school aspires to reach 50 percent in the near future.
\nSimilarly, Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-Africa), also in Kigali, is championing change by allocating 30 percent of its scholarships to young women. These commitments will have a positive effect on the entire institution, as CMU-Africa seeks to increase dramatically enrollment of female scientists.
\nFinally, the Forum for African Women Educationalists (Fawe) in Rwanda has funded the education of 1,200 girls enrolled at the country\u2019s top-performing secondary schools specialising in Stem subjects. Of these students, an estimated 70 percent are expected to study science at the university level.
\nDespite these positive developments, quotas alone will not achieve parity. To make lasting gains, opportunities outside the classroom are also needed. At Fawe Rwanda, a programme called Tuseme (a Swahili word meaning \u201clet\u2019s speak out\u201d) offers girls leadership training through drama, song and creative arts to teach presentation, negotiation and decision-making skills. Fawe Rwanda also works with teachers to develop gender-responsive pedagogical methods.
\nLikewise, at CMU-Africa, scholars are invited to participate in the university\u2019s Meeting of the Minds Symposium, an annual global gathering for undergraduates to showcase their work to a wider audience of faculty, students, government officials and industry representatives. And, the Next Einstein Forum, a select programme at AIMS that recognises Africa\u2019s best young scientists and technologists \u2013 of which 40 percent are women \u2013 provides emerging innovators with an opportunity to lead their own research while inspiring the next generation of scientific thinkers.
\nInequalities faced by girls and young women in African education cannot be erased overnight.
\nAs Rebecca, a Mastercard Foundation scholar from Uganda, remembers: \u201cWhen I was at my school, the boys used to call us \u2018half-men\u2019 because if you\u2019re a lady and you go for sciences, you\u2019re a half-man.\u201d
\nBut Rebecca adds: \u201cIt was cool being a science student.\u201d
\nAfrica needs more women who share Rebecca\u2019s enthusiasm for Stem. To ensure that science remains appealing to girls, schools, governments and industries must cooperate to educate teachers and mentors and allocate funding to close the gender gap.
\nAs Miranda, another Mastercard Foundation scholar, recently observed: \u201cAs we try to find new innovations and inventions to drive the economy, I believe that math and science is at the forefront of that progress.\u201d
\nAs professionals working to improve African education, we could not agree more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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