Encourage women in science and engineering, Africa urged

KIGALI. — Experts on Tuesday advised African countries to encourage more women to participate in science, engineering and other fields where gender imbalance exists.

They were speaking at a panel session on women in science and engineering in Africa during the 2nd edition of Africa Engineering Conference that kicked off on Monday in Rwanda’s capital city Kigali.

The central African country hosts the continental engineering summit from September 25 to 29 dubbed “Effective Waste Management in Africa”, which focuses on promoting professional engineering in Africa to drive infrastructure growth.

“We need to make science and engineering education more attractive to women,” said Valerie Agberagba, Chairperson of Women in Engineering Standing Committee of World Federation of Engineering organisations (WFEO’s).

She noted that on average, only 30 percent of science roles throughout the world are held by women, and that imbalance is more dire in Africa.

“Women in engineering will create diversity because challenges and opportunities globally cannot be tackled from just a male point of view alone and women bring with them a necessary advantage. Let’s make it a priority for being gender sensitive in science and engineering courses for the prosperity of Africa,” said Agberagba.

The panel session argued that among the reasons for Africa’s limited number of women in science and engineering is the lack of access to education by girls and women.

The five-day conference has attracted about 1,000 delegates including government officials, consultants, and civil society together with local, regional and international engineers, according to organisers.

“If we fail to include more women in the science and technology sectors, we may miss out on untapped potential in female specie,” said Christine Gasingirwa, Director General in charge of Science and Technology at the Rwanda Ministry of Education.

She noted that encouraging young female students into science and engineering disciplines was key to increasing the number of skilled people available to address infrastructure development challenges across Africa. — Xinhua