Accra, March 02, GNA- Dr Yvonne Sena Akosuah Loh, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, has urged the Government and policy makers to strengthen the job environment around Science to help retain more females in the field of practice.
She said available data had shown that many female Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates, had left for other job areas such as the banking sector while others left the country for better opportunities due to lack of motivation, limited employment opportunities, male dominance and stereotyping in some science fields.
Dr Loh, who was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Tuesday, said poor job environment and working conditions had killed the interest of many females in Science, and pushing them to other fields.
She said though the government’s effort to increase female enrollment in STEM education was encouraging, it was important those trained were motivated to practice.
Dr Loh said women had so much to contribute towards national development and urged government to design and implement practicable solutions towards effectively engaging the services of professionals to groom and mentor younger ones to remain in the field.
She called for attention to be given to other aspects of Science apart from medicine, saying being a lecturer at the Department of Geology for both graduate and undergraduate students, “it is worrying that most female students reading Science at the University level still lack interest in their courses due to their poor foundation.”
Dr Loh challenged the government to deliberately develop programmes targeted at attracting the services of female professionals in areas such as geology, architecture, hydrology, and geodetic engineering.
She suggested that there should be at least a geologist and hydrologist in every local Assembly to engage all land developers in proper site testing before the commencement of projects.
The engagement of hydrologists would stop the indiscriminate drilling of boreholes across the country, which had the potential of negatively affecting both surface and groundwater, she said.
She noted that presently, boreholes were being sank without prior testing, cautioning that those that were close to places like cemeteries, toilet manholes and the sea, posed high health risks to beneficiaries, due to possible contamination of the water both for consumption and for irrigation purposes.
GNA