Problem
Early-career women scientists in Uganda face numerous challenges in pursuing and maintaining a career. Lacking the professional and programmatic support they need to balance the demands of work and family, many women researchers are forced to abandon their careers and give up on their dreams.
Proposed solution
Makerere University’s Infectious Diseases Institute established The Women Scientists’ Career Development Program (WoSCaDeP), a programme aimed at providing career-related support to women researchers.
Background
Situated in East Africa, Uganda is a landlocked country that shares its eastern border with Kenya, its northern border with South Sudan, its western border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, and its southern border with Rwanda and Tanzania. A low-income country, Uganda has a population of 38 million. In recent years, Uganda has enjoyed political stability and economic growth.
Like other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda has in recent years taken meaningful steps to promote science. In 2009, Uganda adopted its National Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy and has developed plan to implement the policy for 2017-2018. Despite a strong scientific publication record, less than a quarter of Ugandan researchers are women (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2015). Gender inequality is also a pronounced in secondary and tertiary education; female enrolment at the secondary level is 25% compared to 29% for males; at the tertiary level, female enrolment is 3.3% compared to a male enrolment of 5% (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2015).
The gender gap in science is evident in many research and academic institutions. For instance, women occupy only 28% of academic and research positions at Makerere University’s College of Health Sciences, the oldest medical institution in the country. As infectious diseases often disproportionately affect women, this lack of diverse perspectives may have adverse implications for addressing and eliminating infectious diseases.
Recognizing these challenges, institutions are increasingly taking steps to promote women’s participation in science. Makerere University, for one, established a Women and Leadership Project following a study commissioned by its Gender Mainstreaming Division (GMD) in 2004. The project aims to increase the number of women in key leadership positions at the university and the number of women enrolled in postgraduate education. More recently, Makerere’s College of Health Sciences established a formal mentorship program to make professional support and guidance available to all students and staff members.
Supporting women scientists in Uganda
Despite recent efforts to increase the number of women in key academic and research positions in Ugandan institutions, obstacles remain, including: lack of child care at universities, lack of career re-entry programmes, lack of a defined career path and programmes to provide professional support and guidance geared to women scientists. As a result, women researchers are often discouraged from pursuing long-term careers in their field and in some cases abandon their careers altogether.
With its small number of women research scientists, Makerere’s College of Health Sciences is a case in point, and Dr Pauline Byakika-Kibwika, an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, was determined to do something about it. When she saw TDR’s call to women scientists and research managers in low- and middle-income countries to develop ideas on how to improve career development for women research scientists working in the area of infectious diseases of poverty, she responded immediately.
What was done
The Women Scientists’ Career Development Program (WoSCaDeP) provides career-related support, including networking and mentoring, to women researchers in infectious diseases in Uganda.
Upon receiving the grant, Makerere University’s Infectious Diseases Institute established a career programme aimed at providing career-related support to women researchers. Launched in August 2015 at Makerere’s College of Health Sciences, WoSCaDeP is a college-wide initiative. With support from the College of Health Sciences’ leadership, the programme aims to advance the careers of women in science and increase the number of women researchers in key academic and research positions in infectious diseases.
The programme includes a mentoring initiative designed to help junior women scientists advance their careers. Senior women scientists, like Professor Harriet Mayanja-Kizza, a former dean of the School of Medicine, serve as mentors to the early-career women scientists.
The junior women scientists benefit from career and networking support, including information on scholarships and research grants, training workshops and conferences.
For more information, contact:
Dr Pauline Byakika
Associate Professor, Makerere University’s Infectious Diseases Institute
E-mail: pbyakika@gmail.com