Presentation from ICWES 15 Conference - July 2011, Australia

1. CHALLENGES FACING FEMALE
8/15/2011
ENGINEERING STUDENTS IN
AFRICA-OUR EXPERIENCE
Challenges Facing FES ICWES15
KNUST
Nana Yaa Dufie Oti-Boateng1,
Korkor Daah Agyente1, Peggy Oti-Boateng2
1Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah
1
University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana
2Technology Consultancy Centre, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science
and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana

2. BACKGROUND
8/15/2011
 Engineering and science are the backbone to the
industrial and socio-economic development
Challenges Facing FES ICWES15
 Even though women are about 50% of the population in
Africa
 In Ghana less than 30% university enrollments are female
 Only 1.9% of the the total number of students are women
pursuing degrees in engineering.
 Female engineers make up 11% of the total number of
engineers in the USA and Australia
 China and Russia have the highest percentages of
women engineers i.e. 40% and 58% respectively
 Unfortunately no African country can boast the same 2

3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
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o The aim of this study was to find out the reason for
low participation of females in engineering by :
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o conducting a baseline survey to ascertain the
challenges of female engineering students in KNUST
and
o create awareness about them so as to advocate for
change
3

4. METHODOLOGY
8/15/2011
 The study was conducted on the campus of
KNUST, with a population of about 26,000 as at 2010
 KNUST comprises of six colleges namely:
Challenges Facing FES ICWES15
 College of Engineering,
 College of Health Sciences,
 College of Science,
 College of Agriculture and Institute of Renewable Natural
Resources,
 College of Architecture and Planning and
 College of Art and Social Sciences.
 Pre-tested Questionnaires were administered to
students (50FES, 50NFES and MES&MES)
 Statistics from colleges were analysed to determine
trends with baseline study 4

5. 8/15/2011 Challenges Facing FES ICWES15
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RESULTS

6. ENROLMENT AT KNUST
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Males and females in Gender-based enrolment
colleges 08/09 into CoE over 4 years
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7. DEMOGRAPHY
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Percentage of students
Percentage of FES living in
living in the 10 regions of 7
the various regions
Ghana

8. FEMALES IN VARIOUS ENGINEERING
DISCIPLINES AT KNUST
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9. ETHNICITY
70
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60
50
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No. of students (%)
40
30
20
10
0
Percentages of ethnic groups Percentages of Ethnic groups
students come from FES come from
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10. 8/15/2011 Challenges Facing FES ICWES15
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PERCEPTIONS OF FES

11. OUTLOOK ON ENGINEERING
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Percentages of
recommendations Percentages of how much 11
FES enjoy engineering

12. EXPERIENCES OF FES
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Best Experience of FES Worst experiences of FES

13. ADVISORS OF FES TO PURSUE
ENGINEERING
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14. CONCLUSION
8/15/2011
 Engineering curriculum needs revamping to make it
more interesting, relevant, engendered, interactive
Challenges Facing FES ICWES15
and more practical
 General education of the public on engineering and
its importance with emphasis on female engineers
and their contributions should be done
 Scholarships should also be instituted to cater for
the needs of needy but brilliant girls whose dreams
are to become engineers.
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15. 8/15/2011 Challenges Facing FES ICWES15
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THANK YOU