WEBVTT - generated by Videoportal Universität Freiburg 1 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:19.320 Over the years 2 00:00:19.320 --> 00:00:21.559 strides have been made 3 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:24.480 to bridge the gender gap in education 4 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:29.640 and female participation in higher education has increased 5 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:34.880 in many African countries and the trend keeps on increasing. 6 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:39.560 This has been made possible through several measures 7 00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:43.799 at both the global and national levels. 8 00:00:44.359 --> 00:00:49.600 There have been several educational reforms and initiatives 9 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:54.200 to enhance the education of girls in particular 10 00:00:54.200 --> 00:00:58.399 and improved national average gross enrolment rate 11 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:01.000 at all levels of education. 12 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:04.000 In the case of Ghana for instance 13 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:11.000 this has addressed some of the structural inequalities to bridge the gender-gaps 14 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:18.000 including the quota systems to all halls of residence in public tertiary institutions 15 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:23.000 so as to provide females more access to tertiary education. 16 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:28.000 Indeed, at the end of the Millennium Development Goals in 2015 17 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:37.000 there had been a marked improvement in education at all levels and especially in Africa. 18 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:45.000 Whilst progress has been made over the years to improve female enrollment in higher educational institutions 19 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:54.000 there are still gaps in teaching and research staff and in leadership positions within our institutions. 20 00:01:54.000 --> 00:02:02.000 A major challenge is getting more females into higher professorial levels in higher institutions in Africa. 21 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:11.000 A study conducted by UNESCO in 2019 notes that only 24% of academic staff are female across sub-Saharan Africa. 22 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:17.000 And a recent study on higher education staff and academics in Ghana 23 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:22.000 by Association of African Universities and Education in sub-Saharan Africa 24 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:28.000 reveal that only 8% of professors at public universities in Ghana are women. 25 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:34.000 There are similar trends in many universities in Africa I believe. 26 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:42.000 For many women academics and administrators, it is quite challenging to move ahead in their academic careers 27 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:45.000 because of the multiple roles that women play 28 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:51.000 and the structural and sometimes subtle inequalities that exist. 29 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:58.000 One way of addressing the challenge is the continuous empowerment of females 30 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:01.000 particularly early career females 31 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:09.000 since the argument has been that gender inequalities create inefficiencies and hamper growth. 32 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:13.000 Before I move on to use one classic example 33 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:19.000 of how young African female academics are being supported and empowered 34 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:23.000 to aspire to higher heights in their careers 35 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:48.000 To empower a woman means building the capacity of that woman 36 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:53.000 to increase her self-reliance and internal strength. 37 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:58.000 In other words, I’m drawing attention to the agency of that individual. 38 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.000 That individual, which is a woman 39 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:07.000 must have the ability to define her goals in life including believing in herself 40 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:12.000 and trusting that she is able to achieve her goals. 41 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:20.000 This also includes to the ability to be able to effectively make decisions and choices in life. 42 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:26.000 One thing that we should bear in mind is that empowering women is a continuous process 43 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:33.000 and it happens at all levels including higher educational institutions. 44 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:40.000 That is why it is important to continue to encourage and empower the young female academics 45 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:43.000 to aspire to higher levels in their careers 46 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:50.000 and this is exactly what the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa - MIASA - is doing 47 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:58.000 to support early career female academics through its Female Academic Scholarship program. 48 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:22.000 The Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa, MIASA for short, was established in September 2018 49 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:27.000 after its approval by the University of Ghana Council. 50 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:32.000 It is a consortium of 4 Germany institutions 51 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:34.000 that is, University of Freiburg 52 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.000 the Goethe University Frankfurt 53 53 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:41.000 the German Institute for Global and Area Studies GIGA 54 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:44.000 and the German Historical Institute in Paris 55 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:48.000 in collaboration with the University of Ghana. 56 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:54.000 Funding is from the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research 57 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:58.000 whilst local staffing, administrative and operational costs 58 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:02.000 are borne by the University of Ghana. 59 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:09.000 It is an institute for advanced studies in the humanities and social sciences 60 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:16.000 through the provision of fellowships to both senior scholars and early career researchers 61 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:24.000 from Ghana and Germany, as well as from Africa and other parts of the world. 62 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:31.000 The overall goal and vision of MIASA is to create a hub for collaborative research: 63 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:38.000 across disciplines, career stages, linguistic and scholarly traditions; 64 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:45.000 establish sustainable scholarly networks and increase the role of African scholars 65 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:55.000 in formulating research agendas whilst ensuring greater visibility of African scholarly work. 66 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:59.000 One key area that the Institute is committed to 67 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:05.000 is strengthening female scholarship especially African female scholarship 68 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:09.000 between established and early career researchers 69 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:17.000 with an objective of encouraging intellectual exchanges across existing boundaries 70 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:23.000 between disciplines and amongst different countries and cultures. 71 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:28.000 The German Historical Institute in Paris is responsible 72 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:36.000 for organising the annual MIASA Female Academic Careers in Africa Workshop. 73 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:44.000 The workshop targets early female career academics from both anglophone and francophone Africa 74 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:52.000 and organise mentorship and coaching sessions such as: tips on writing scientific publications; 75 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:55.000 how to write and apply for successful research grant 76 00:07:55.000 --> 00:08:02.000 roundtable discussions on the challenges of women’s academic careers with researchers 77 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:11.000 including work-life balance conflicts and how to deal with the multiple roles of African women. 78 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:16.000 Facilitators are often advanced career female academics 79 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:21.000 who share their personal academic career experiences 80 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:26.000 their challenges and ways of navigating these challenges. 81 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:33.000 These are all aimed at motivating and inspiring the early career female scholars 82 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:37.000 to aspire to higher heights in the academic ladder. 83 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:45.000 Experience sharing in these workshops is intended to hinge on the agency of the young female scholars 84 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:52.000 so as to create the ability to define their own goals and act upon them. 85 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:57.000 In other words, it creates the opportunity for the young female scholars 86 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:05.000 to perceive themselves as able and entitled to make decisions and effectively make choices. 87 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:09.000 In addition, MIASA organizes writing schools 88 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:15.000 aimed at strengthening the academic writing skills of African early career scholars 89 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:19.000 with particular attention to women scholars. 90 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:26.000 Such workshops transform draft papers into publishable ones in notable journals. 91 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.000 It is my expectation and hope 92 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:35.000 that more of such programs would be organized so as to continue the process 93 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:42.000 of empowering young African female scholars in order to bridge gender gaps 94 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:49.000 and contribute to a better management of our universities and the African society as a whole. 95 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:51.000 Thank you very much.