Problem
Women scientists are generally underrepresented in infectious disease research in Nigeria and rarely occupy senior positions such as fellows and principal investigators, a situation that is further aggravated by religious and cultural fundamentalism that is pervasive in Nigeria, which hinders women from attaining their potential.
Proposed solution
To better understand women’s underrepresentation in science in Nigeria, the project conducted a landscape analysis reviewing women research scientists in infectious diseases research publications (between 2010 and 2014) across 7 institutions in 4 geographical zones, and examined the professional challenges and socio-cultural barriers that women face in establishing and maintaining careers in health research in different sociocultural settings in Nigeria.
Background
Nigeria is situated in West Africa. A lower-middle-income country, with approximately 178 million inhabitants in 2014, it is Africa’s most populous nation. In recent years, several regions in Nigeria have experienced instability due to the actions of the militant group, Boko Haram.
Nigeria has strengthened its institutional framework for science and technology. In addition to its Ministry of Science and Technology, Nigeria established a National Research and Innovation Council in 2014 whose members include the ministries of science and technology, education, environment and information and communications technology. Although Nigeria has a low scientific publishing record and only a small number of its researchers (23% in 2007) are women (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2015), it has taken steps to address the gender imbalance in science. Its Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, adopted in 2012, which is integrated in the country’s Vision 20:2020 Economic Transformation Blueprint, has an objective to mainstream women in science, technology and innovation (STI).
The policy, which provides incentives for women’s participation in science and strengthens the political and institutional framework to promote women’s participation in STI, also encourages the promotion of gender balance in STI disciplines and R&D institutions countrywide and makes provisions for increasing women and girls’ access to STI. The policy also identifies strategies for integrating gender, including supporting women to participate and hold leadership positions in STI endeavors and providing scholarships and mentoring to increase female enrollment and retention in STI disciplines as well as a framework to encourage and increase women’s employment in STI sectors.
Supporting early-career women scientists in Nigeria
Despite the progressive policy framework to support women scientists in Nigeria, they remain under-represented in science. Women face numerous challenges while pursuing their careers, in particular, partly due to socio-cultural factors, including religious and cultural fundamentalism, as well as work-family conflict and societal bias towards women.
Recognizing these challenges, Dr Jacqueline Badaki, a senior lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences at the Federal University in Lokoja, Nigeria responded to TDR’s call to women scientists and research managers in low- and medium-income countries (LMICs) to develop ideas on how to improve career development for women research scientists working in the area of infectious diseases of poverty.
What was done
A landscape analysis reviewed women research scientists in infectious diseases publications across 7 institutions in 4 geographical zones in order to better understand their under-representation in science in Nigeria. The project also provided mentoring to and facilitated the development of career plans for women research scientists.
Findings of the assessment of the professional challenges and socio-cultural barriers that women face in establishing and maintaining careers in health research in different sociocultural settings in Nigeria showed that work-family balance, societal bias towards women, lack of mentors and lack of funds to undertake research as impeding women scientists’ in infectious disease research careers.
As one participant noted, “From my records it is obvious that I should not be where I am now. My colleagues are now professors and I’m not close to that rank yet. My career has been interrupted several times due to child-bearing.”
Twenty women drawn from 7 institutions across 4 geopolitical zones (North West, North Central, South West and South East) attended workshops on proposal development and scientific writing and gained skills in manuscript development, including how to develop a scientific paper, formulating a research problem and research ethics as well as in grant writing – indispensable skills for research scientists that will lay the foundation for a long-term career in research.
Thirty-three women researcher scientists in infectious diseases drawn from the 7 institutions who attended a one-day stakeholder meeting developed career development plans to enable them to chart their careers, while 26 women (mentees) received one-on-one mentoring, which provided them with an opportunity to ask questions, obtain feedback and invaluable advice about how to manage the demands of a challenging professional career while maintaining work/life balance from mentors.
Impact
Ten mentees developed career development plans. Almost a fifth of the women scientists have developed and submitted research articles to journals. Plans are underway to explore how to engage the Nigerian University Commission to endorse structured mentorship schemes for academic and research institutions in Nigeria. Also under consideration are plans to investigate how the Institute of Mentorship and Career Coaching in Nigeria can engage senior faculty in mentoring their junior colleagues and advocate on behalf of women scientists to entities like TETFUND to provide financial support women researchers to attend conferences and develop their professional networks, relationships and partnerships.
Contact:
Dr Jacqueline Azumi Badaki, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences at the Federal University in Lokoja, Nigeria
Email: Jacqueline.badaki@fulokoja.edu.ng