By Emma-Marie Umurerwa
Denise Nyinawamana dream do all she could to defy odds against her gender and become either a pilot or an astronaut. “I always wished to could become a pilot or else an astronaut,” she says, I wanted my dream to become a reality and my family was also supportive,” says the 29-year-old.
who hails from Musanze district’worked hard throughout school and secured a university scholarship to study electrical engineering rather than her first choice of electronics.
She opted to pursue mathematics instead.
“I believed that with mathematics, I would have an option to pursue most science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses into a masters and I could still pursue my dream,” she said.
Today, Nyinawamama holds a bachelor degree in mathematics and a masters in mathematical sciences from the former Kigali Institute of Science and Technology and the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS). Her class consisted entirely of men, apart from herself and one other woman.
Rather than a pilot or astronaut, she is employed as a public servant and holds a position as a product and technology development specialist (STEM) one of public institutions in Rwanda where she has worked on several projects.
She won a Women in STEM Rising Star Award from the National Council for Science and Technology for the project.
She believes more girls and women should be pursuing careers in science.
“Girls are able and can perform well in sciences especially when they have goals. But they have to overcome any sort of discouragement. They have to go beyond the myth that there are tasks meant for boys only. They also have to adapt to the environment whether conducive or not,” she said, emphasising the need for support from family members and society in general.
In Rwanda, a majority of female students shy away from STEM-related courses and the number pursuing STEM-related courses is still low compared to males.
The University of Rwanda, which is the biggest higher education institution in the country, aims to raise the percentage of STEM students to 90% in the next 10 years from the current 52%, and to increase the female STEM enrolment to 33%, which would still be below the global average.
According to a UNESCO report, “Cracking the code: girls’ and women’s education in STEM”, women represent 35% of all students enrolled in STEM-related fields of study in higher education around the world.
The report, released in 2017, notes that the gender disparity is alarming, especially as STEM careers are often referred to as the jobs of the future, driving innovation, social wellbeing, inclusive growth and sustainable development.
In Rwanda, educationalists and experts attribute the low enrolment of girls and women to a culture that discourages girls from pursuing sciences on the basis that STEM is “too hard” for girls or is a male preserve.
According to Dr Herine Otieno Menya, the director of the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences’ Teacher Training Program, Rwanda, the gender disparity in STEM in Rwanda “has nothing to do with the ability of the girls to do sciences. In fact, there are countries where girls do much better than boys in sciences in ‘A’ Level, but you will still find more boys in STEM courses in universities.”
She said there was a widespread belief that you are either born to do well in mathematics and sciences or you are not. “Which is wrong,” she said.
Otieno, who has a PhD in mathematics education, said girls tend to learn in a different way to boys. “When people are learning, emotions are also involved and there has always been a tradition of presenting mathematics and sciences in a very dry way … that actually works against the girls,” she said.
She said girls “tend to identify more strongly with social goals; they want to do something or be connected to something they see has benefit for the community”, she said. Otieno said girls tend to do better in biology.
emma@iribanews.com
