Experts in the field of Earth Sciences have identified dwindling enrolment and lack of interest by girls and women in studying courses within the Earth Sciences such as geology, geophysics, oceanography, hydrology, meteorology, climatology, among others, as main issues that cause gender disparity among the professionals in the sector.
The experts, who are part of an international research team working on diversity within the Earth Sciences, having observed that the gender disparity was scarcely reported and documented in Africa, undertook the intensive research in accordance with the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goal 5. This was with a view to achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls that may want to venture into Earth Sciences.
Speaking on the research which is based on the diversity within the Earth Sciences in Africa, Muhedeen Lawal, a Co-Principal Investigator, said that a team of international researchers, numbering about 27, undertook such a demanding research on diversity within the Earth Sciences, having discovered that male to female ratio was 4:1 in Africa which is grossly against the UN SDG 5.
He said, “Now, an international research team working on diversity within the Earth Sciences through the Assessing Status of Geoscience Education in Africa (AGEEDAF) project have examined a total of 3269 Earth Science faculty members from 142 universities in 39 countries across Africa, for their gender and ranks. These data were collected and mined online between July 1 to September 30, 2020.
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“Through AGEEDAF, we also analyzed a database of 795 survey respondents, who are current students in Earth Science departments in universities across Africa. 38% of the respondents are females. Additional 151 survey respondents, mainly professionals in the academia and industry, were evaluated to understand how they perceive female Earth Science students.
According to Lawal, previous researches have revealed an underrepresentation of females in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and particularly in the Earth Sciences in other parts of the world but interestingly, not much is known about this in the context of Africa.
“We provided evidence that female faculty members are underrepresented in most of the Earth Science departments documented by analyzing the data collected. Females are also less represented in senior faculty ranks such as Professors and Associate Professors when compared to their male counterparts.
“On the contrary, female faculty members are predominant in the lower cadres, such as lecturers, teaching, and graduate assistants. The observed male to female ratio is 4:1. At the base of this gender gap is the lower enrolment of female students in Earth Science courses from undergraduate to graduate studies”, he noted.
While making additional comments on the possible solutions to the issues identified, Lawal, who recently completed a PhD in Geosciences at the University of Haifa in Israel, added, “the study also revealed underrepresentation of female student respondents, which is potentially linked to lower female students’ enrolment among the sampled respondents. Going by the responses, many female academic professionals slightly perceive male students are not more active than their female counterparts during laboratory and field activities.
“Majority of these female respondents think that geosciences are meant for female students also, but do not expressively consider it as a female profession.” These results have been described in a 2021 and a November 2022 peer reviewed paper published in the Journal of African Earth sciences, both of which Lawal co-authored.
“For a more gender-diverse Earth Science education, we therefore recommend increasing female students’ enrollment, mentoring for students and faculties, awareness, timely promotion of accomplished researchers, and formulation of enabling policies by stakeholders including governments.
“There is also the need for both students and faculties of all genders to realize that a more diverse Earth Sciences is in everyone’s interest. More work-related policies that guarantee work-life balance for female Earth Science academics should be formulated to attract and retain more women into Earth Science careers and to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal 5.
“For instance, Dr. Ovie Eruteya, a Research Associate at the University of Geneva in Switzerland and a co-author of the papers, said that the exact factors responsible for the low enrolment of females in the Earth Sciences are still speculative. According to Eruteya, future research must be aimed at establishing them on a country-by-country basis.
“This, among other issues and solutions, if well taken, should be able to address issues as regards diversity within the Earth Sciences in Africa and other parts of the world that may not have started work in the direction of UN Sustainable Development Goal 5”, he submitted.
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