WiSE Insights Africa - Volume 1, Number 2, June 2020

Abstract

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) selected eleven projects following a Call for Proposal on ‘Breaking Barriers to Women’s Participation in Science’. The main goal of the IDRC project is 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). The Science and Technology Policy Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-STEPRI) in Ghana, is one of the recipients of the IDRC grant for the project “Women in Engineering Education and Careers in Benin and Ghana (WEEC-BG).” It is important to note that most systemic barriers in women’s participation in STEM exist as a result of institutional values, cultures, policies, and practices that implicitly or explicitly restrict the institutions from successfully attracting, recruiting, retaining, and promoting women scientists and other groups with a minority presence in STEM fields.