A GNA Feature by Laudia Sawer
Tema, Sept. 6, GNA – “I want to break the record, I have the strength to do the traditional male jobs,” Ms Dorothy Narh, a 19-year-old final student at the Tema Technical Institute summed up her dream to work in the construction industry which is a known male-dominated field.
Ms Narh, dressed in her working gear with a protective boot and helmet at a construction site at Dawhenya in the Greater Accra region as part of her practical training, said even though she faces many challenges as a young woman venturing into the building sector, she is ready to demolish the gender stereotypes and empower other young girls.
She is not in this alone, in a class of 47, only six of them are girls who dare to join the Competence-Based Training (CBT Construction) in Tema Tech and have successfully gone through the course with the last lap of acquiring their fieldwork.
Miss Erica Atta Botchway, 18 years old, a petite unassuming lady, is living her dream of becoming an engineer, despite her parents’ wish to have a medical doctor in her. To her, perseverance and commitment saw her through her training, and she is ready to move to the next step.
“Sometimes when they see my body they question me if I can really do it. They try to discourage me sometimes but because I know what I want to be, I do not take those discouragements to heart. I have learnt about setting out, foundation, transferring the plan from paper onto the ground, I can carry cement blocks up to five inches, I will learn how to operate the construction machines,” Erica said.
Ms El-Han Sahan Ibrahim, Ms Stephanie Williams, and Ms Hannah Tanoh, all construction students, believe that before girls and women could have empowerment, society must be ready to support them in breaking the gender stereotypes of asking girls to prove themselves before being given the challenging jobs or being given the opportunity to acquire practical training in industries.
“Most of the guys on the field think ladies cannot do some of the works like carrying blocks, laying and mixing of mortar, we always prove to them that being a lady does not mean we are weak; it’s not easy to be a lady, but we have to choose and fight for what we want by ourselves rather than pleasing others,” Ms Tanoh emphasised.
Data on women in construction
The construction industry in Ghana provides numerous job openings that women can tap into.
However, the sector is male-dominated.
According to a 2020 report by the Ghana Statistical Service, women make up only about 1.4 per cent of the workforce in the construction sector.
A 2019 survey by the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry reported that out of a total of 1,115 construction workers sampled, only 15 were women, while a 2020 report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimated that women account for around 2 per cent of the construction workforce in Ghana, and another report by the Ministry of Works and Housing in 2018 estimated that women make up around 1.2 per cent of the construction workforce.
These numbers are what Dorothy and her mates seek to change by empowering themselves with the engineering skills to contribute to the building economy and change people’s perceptions about the capabilities of females.
Women’s / Girls Empowerment
According to the World Bank Group, empowerment is a process of change by which those who have been denied the ability to make strategic life choices acquire this ability.
Women’s and girls’ empowerment is about creating an inclusive environment, where women and girls have equal opportunities to pursue their passions and interests by removing constraints that impede women’s and girls’ ability to determine and realise their goals.
Goal five of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) seeks to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Importance of Women’s/Girls Empowerment
The Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, in the executive summary of the National Gender Police (May 2015), stated that gender equality and women empowerment are strategies for reducing poverty levels and social injustices.
Among women and men, improving health standards and enhancing the efficiency of public and private sector investments and domestic finance, stressing that achieving gender equality is regarded as the attainment.
Empowering girls to venture into technical, engineering, and other male-dominated fields has been proven to provide new career opportunities and foster economic independence for them while challenging societal norms.
According to the UN Foundation, empowering girls is non-negotiable because it is first an issue of rights, which are enshrined in constitutions, including the 1992 Constitution, and other relevant policies and legal documents.
Empowering girls and women does not only benefit them but also their families and society as such, girls can engage in safe sex, make decisions on family planning, and delay childbirth, leading to healthier families so they will only make babies when they are ready.
Through this, they can help break the cycle of poverty in their families and society as they will stay in school and achieve higher dreams, which will translate into better remuneration.
Stakeholders’ contribution
Parents, guardians, and society can support the empowerment of girls and women to venture into challenging fields by challenging gender stereotypes and biases at home and in companies.
Girls must be encouraged with skills, confidence, and networks to succeed in their chosen fields to help contribute to a more inclusive and diverse country in the various sectors.
Girls need the push to go into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education just as the six Tema Tech building construction students are doing; this can be pushed up by connecting girls with female role models or professionals in the STEM field they have chosen.
Like Dorothy and her friends echoed, they need to be provided with opportunities for hands-on experience, internships, and apprenticeship avenues, while unconscious biases are recognised and addressed to deal with things that might serve as discouragements.
Parents and guardians can empower girls to break barriers and pursue fulfilling careers in sectors such as construction by fostering a supportive environment through the encouragement of open discussions, asking about their interests, and providing them with the needed guidance, while celebrating girls’ achievements.
Schools, companies, and the Ministry of Education can foster collaborations to develop engineering-related curricular projects, clubs, and programmes for girls and provide scholarships and sponsorships for female engineering students.
There is a need to integrate engineering and technology into primary and secondary school curricula, providing role models and mentors, such as female engineering professors or guest speakers, and developing targeted outreach programmes to attract more female students into engineering courses.
By working together, companies and educational institutions can help break down barriers, challenge stereotypes, and encourage more girls to pursue engineering careers.
Conclusion
“Empowering women is not just a moral imperative; it’s an economic one,” as stated by Hillary Clinton, has many benefits both for the girl or women, the family, society, and the country.
Girls must therefore be supported and empowered in diverse ways through workshops, career fairs, and industry events to display engineering opportunities and highlight female engineers’ success stories, offering flexible work arrangements and family-friendly policies to support women in engineering and other fields to empower them economically.
GNA