STEMming the tide: Africa’s gender summit tackles inequities in science

On May 23, 2024, the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) Gender Equality and Inclusivity (GEI) Project and the Global Research Council (GRC) Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Working Group hosted an Africa-focused panel at the online Gender Summit 2024. Representatives from science granting councils in Kenya, Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire, and South Africa convened to discuss ongoing efforts to address social and gender inequities in science and innovation. The participants highlighted progress in promoting more inclusive research through targeted grants and training programs. However, limited funding and data gaps emerged as ongoing challenges to implementing gender equality and inclusivity frameworks. 

Diversity and inclusivity in science are widely recognised as essential drivers of robust, innovative and socially responsive research. Yet, women continue to face significant barriers in science careers, including gender biases, a disproportionate unpaid care work burden, and cultural stereotypes linking masculinity with STEM. Gender and other biases occur at various stages of researchers’ careers, affecting opportunities for funding, promotions, and leadership positions. Thashni Pillay of South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) highlighted this issue at the online Gender Summit 2024’s Africa-focused panel, “Finding Focus: Towards a Funding Agenda for Gender Transformation in African Science.

“Our current data shows that African and coloured women remain significantly underrepresented within [South Africa],”she said, referring to findings from Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS).  Faith Wakhungu of Kenya’s National Research Foundation and Hildegalda Mushi of the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) echoed her concerns, with Mushi noting that since COSTECH’s establishment in 2008, only 30% of research awardees have been women.

Addressing these disparities has been a central focus of the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) since its 2015 inception. In 2020, the SGCI introduced the HSRC-led GEI project, which aims to integrate a gender equality and inclusivity lens across all council functions. Councils participating in the GEI Project have created council-specific proposals to integrate GEI into each stage of the science granting cycle – from crafting inclusive calls to supporting research teams to implement gender components in subsequent research.

In 2023, COSTECH implemented a national framework for gender inclusion, to increase women’s participation in research and their representation in leadership positions. Similarly, 2024 saw Cote d’Ivoire introduce a gender and inclusion policy to mainstream gender and inclusivity in research activities.

As well as addressing the differing needs of women in research, these policies and frameworks aim to address the root causes of inequalities in the sector. For instance, a priority area identified in COSTECH’s framework was increasing the proportion of women in all levels of decision-making – from government ministries to university boards and chairs.

In Kenya, the NRF had co-opted the concept of gender champions to foster a culture of gender inclusivity, Wakhungu said. “We also have deep seated cultural issues extending beyond organisational boundaries. This results in gender biases… Our focus is on enhancing partnerships with country governments, development partners [and] NGOs among other organisations, to develop and roll out campaign programs on equality and inclusivity.”

STEMpowering gender targets   

To tackle gender disparities in research funding, councils have introduced targeted funding calls and support mechanisms for women researchers and underrepresented groups.

South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) has set strong targets to support women and historically disadvantaged groups, said Pillay. Cote d’Ivoire also offers research grants for women and young people and require that research teams include a gender dimension in their research content.

Tanzania’s COSTECH introduced women-targeted research grants in 2023, following the launch of the gender framework. The successful applicants from that year are now undertaking their research, Wakhungu said. “We also provide platforms where we can incentivise the researchers… Come August this year, we have a Research Festival. One of the categories at NRF… is the best women researchers and the young researchers,” she added.

Training and support programmes can help to counterbalance the disadvantages faced by women and marginalised individuals due to social biases and stereotypes. For instance, proposal-writing support can improve women’s chances of accessing grants in the face of biased grant-making processes, while increased education opportunities can increase their involvement in research despite greater domestic responsibilities.

In Cote d’Ivoire, Anette Ouattara highlighted the granting council’s efforts to enhance the competitiveness of women and young researchers through regular training sessions at universities and research centers. Plans are underway to introduce an online mentorship program for young female researchers and policies supporting women’s education, considering that women still tend to carry a disproportionate burden of domestic responsibilities. Ouattara also acknowledged the challenges faced by people with disabilities and emphasised the need for infrastructure to facilitate their participation in the research sector.

Pillay underscored the importance of promoting flexible work arrangements, especially for researchers with caregiving responsibilities, to foster diversity and inclusion.

Training stakeholders and tracking progress

The participants also reported that councils had implemented training and awareness programmes (on the value of a gender equality and inclusivity lens) for grant funding reviewers and council staff. “Some stakeholders are not really aware of why this is important,” Wakhungu offered. “That is why we have training efforts, but we look forward to extending them further”.

Strategies outlined in Kenya’s gender inclusivity framework included capacity-building among reviewers and the staff at NRF as well as researchers. “We target both researchers and reviewers as they apply and move to the next stage. We make sure that we will create awareness on issues of gender as they go to undertake their research”.  

The council aimed to extend these training efforts, she said, to engage staff, researchers and reviewers about “emerging trends in gender equality, inclusivity and intersectionality”.

In Tanzania, the implementation of the national framework had commenced with internal capacity-building that would then be extended to R&D organisations. The council also aimed to update guidelines so that progress could be measured and monitored.

Effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are essential to track progress and ensure accountability. According to Pillay, South Africa has implemented continuous assessments, audited processes, and annual reporting on gender equity and inclusiveness within the research sector. Mushi said that Tanzania had developed indicators to monitor progress in their national gender framework’s priority areas, and that these would be implemented once funding became available.

Data and funding gaps

Despite these efforts, significant challenges persist. All the country council representatives reported difficulties securing adequate funding to support gender equality initiatives. “Our challenges primarily stem from limited financing, especially for homegrown research to understand the whole spectrum of gender equality and inclusivity gaps…” Mushi said. The panellists agreed that collaborations with other councils, development organisations, and international partners were critical to mobilising resources and advancing gender equality and inclusivity initiatives.    

Additionally, many countries still lacked gender-disaggregated data to inform policy and decision-making. Said Wakhungu, “The ministries are looking for research data that is disaggregated by gender to show various aspects, but that information is not readily available because of the culture of research that has been operating all those years.” 

Written by Andrea Teagle for Jive Media Africa. Jive Media Africa is the communications partner on the SGCI Gender Equality and Inclusivity project.

Watch the summit parallel session: