By Samuel Akumatey, GNA
Ho, Jun. 23, GNA – Dr Abena A. Obiri-Yeboah, Pro Vice Chancellor of the Kumasi Technical University has said the progression of women in present day society was worth celebrating.
She said the female gender has seen a significant rise along society’s status lines, which showed the impact of sustained efforts at promoting women and their empowerment.
Dr Obiri-Yeboah who was delivering a lecture at the fourth Margaret Gyapong Annual Lecture and Mentorship Program of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), shared data on the significant progress of the female gender.
She said females constituted 33 per cent of the coveted world of scientific research, and that women should find the encouragement to endeavour to excel.
“We should be proud of ourselves of how far we have come. Many decades ago the story was completely different and I believe that we have come this far by the sacrifice and diligence of the many women that had gone ahead of us and therefore it is important that we are extremely conscious of where we are coming from, where we are now, and where we want to be in the future.
“I am positive that with hard work and resilience, our generation can write an even better story for ourselves and our generation”.
Dr. Obiri-Yeboah noted how top positions including in politics suffered low female representation with only 22 per cent of the gender as parliamentarians worldwide while constituting eight per cent of world’s CEO positions.
She said the science and education sector remained the mainstay of women excellence, and that the growth of female faculty needed to be encouraged and corporate rise of women promoted.
The Pro Vice Chancellor said Government’s commitment to various treaties and conventions on promoting women empowerment required spirited dedication and focus by the gender.
“Female representation among faculty is still low. However, this is changing rapidly as more women are pursuing advanced degrees and academic careers.
“While there may be women in leadership roles such as Deans, Department heads, and university administrators, they are still very much under represented compared to our men counterparts. Efforts to promote gender diversity in leadership positions within academia are ongoing but they vary in their effectiveness across institutions.
“The question is what are we doing to change these statistics? Who is going to change these statistics, and what would it take to change the statistics, and what has Ghana done so far?
“Ghana is committed and has committed to signing and ratifying a whole lot of International, continental, and regional women’s rights, conventions, and protocols. Irrespective of all these policies, if we fail to avail ourselves, they will mean nothing to us.
“You need to position yourself so that if an opportunity presents itself, you would be able to take it up otherwise no amount of signing, no amount of policies will get us there. We need to push. We need to struggle harder. We need to put ourselves out there and we need to rise to the challenges. There is no doubt that given the opportunity, women and girls can effectively contribute to national development by providing solutions and fresh diverse perspectives to existing challenges,” Dr. Obiri-Yeboah said.
She called for the deliberate provision of support and opportunities for women and said initiatives such as leadership development programs to encourage career ascension should be made available.
The Pro Vice Chancellor said the Government should ensure all girls benefited from STEM education as a key component to their development.
“We need to close the gender gap and create career opportunities fit for all. By encouraging and supporting girls’ education we can work towards closing the gender gap and creating the opportunities with high earning potentials and job stability for women and then we will end up creating a balanced and diverse workforce for the future.”
The annual Margaret Gyapong Lecture and Mentorship Program was instituted by UHAS in honour of the Director of the University’s Institute of Health Research who donated her award for being an outstanding female scientist towards a personal initiative to support female education.
Prof Gyapong established a Dora Gertrude Quaye Memorial Scholarship Fund for brilliant but needy female students which caters for tuition and accommodation fees for eligible applicants.
Five students were awarded the scholarship at the event this year which was on the theme: “Preparing the Girl Child for Leadership.”
Professor Lydia Aziato, the Vice Chancellor of UHAS said the University considered the annual event an avenue to empowering students into excellence and would be sustained.
GNA