The CSIR-STEPRI as part of its participation in the Women in Engineering Education and Career in Benin and Ghana” Project, has held a one day dissemination workshop at the Erata Hotel herein Accra.

Background

The Women in Engineering Education and Careers in Benin and Ghana (WEEC-BG) project is a three-year project running from January 2020 to December 2022. It is one of the eleven successful projects selected for funding from about 180 proposals submitted in response to the International Development Research Center’s (IDRC) Call for Proposal on “Breaking Systemic Barriers to Women’s Participation in Science”. The IDRC projects on “Breaking Barriers to Women’s Participation in Science” are intended to identify and address systemic barriers that inhibit greater participation of women and other underrepresented groups in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the public and private sectors in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Objectives of the Project

The main objective of the project is to contribute to bridging the gender gap in engineering in Ghana and Bénin through original research and policy recommendations. Specifically, the project seeks to provide strong evidence of trends in female participation in engineering education and careers over the past decades, provide insights into the impacts of policies and practices, and identify recommendations for closing the gender gap in engineering and STEM in general.

Participants

Participants for the workshop were drawn from STEM students, lecturers, engineering professionals, decision and policymakers.