AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES ISSN Print: 2156-1540, ISSN Online: 2151-1559, doi:10.5251/ajsms.2016.7.2.42.55

© 2016, ScienceHuβ, http://www.scihub.org/AJSMS

An exploration of the experiential perceptions of STEM women in Ghana about empowerment

Boateng, Fred K. Department of Educational Studies & Leadership, University of Ghana

fboateng@ug.edu.gh +233553237994/+233205092331 Nyarko, Kingsley, PhD., Departments of Psychology & Teacher Education, University of

Ghana. KNyarko@ug.edu.gh +233548006675

ABSTRACT

Gender disparities are rife in all aspects of the Ghanaian society including its educational sector. Women are underrepresented in one of the most relevant disciplinary domains: the Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Nonetheless, the STEM fields are believed to be sine qua non to the socio-economic development of nations. In order to increase the participation, retention, attainment, and equity of females in STEM and nip gender disparities in those fields in the bud, prospective and existing women in STEM ought to be empowered. There are not any indispensable stakeholders in this end more than women in STEM fields. This paper delved into the perceptions of 30 women in STEM via in depth semi-structured interviews concerning the manner empowerment activities should be conducted based on their gender experiences in their disciplinary domains. There were five different trajectories among the participants concerning their experiences. Corresponding outcomes of experiences and conceptions of empowerment of psychological and mental health significance were somewhat similar, nuanced, and different.

Keywords: Gender disparities, STEM, Women, Ghana.

INTRODUCTION

Women’s roles in society are indispensable to development (USAID, 1982; Gutek & Larwood, 1987; Hall, 1987; Adeyemo, 1990; UNESCO, 1981, 2007) but they are marginalized in most, if not all, of societal spheres as they are susceptible to higher risks and discriminatory practices (Mensah-Kutin, 2010). Their relegation in education is characterized by dismal enrolments and attrition in schools, decision-making and/or politics replete with their tenuous presence in the decision-making of families and socio-economic and political organizations; etc. (Bem, 1993; King & Hill, 1993; UNDP, 2007; Morimoto, Zajicek, Hunt, & Lisnic, 2013).

Internationally, the Women in Development (WID) and Gender and Development (GAD) approaches chalked successes in the inclusivity of women in development (Luttrell, Quiroz, Scrutton, & Bird, 2009). Nationally, the constitutional and legislative frameworks (Atuahene & Owusu-Ansah, 2013) like the free compulsory basic education (FCUBE) have benefits to girls in Ghana. Despite the strides made locally and internationally to stem the tide of gender disparities, Ghana is bedeviled with the phenomenon of gender discrimination (Manuh, 1989; Ardayfio-

Shandorf, 1995; Bunyi, 2003; Tsikata, 2001; Prah, 2004). .

In view of the fact that science and technology and the disciplines emanating from them are fundamental to nations’ socio-economic development (UNESCO, 2007), developing nations, especially the ones in Africa have seen their relevance to their nation’s development (Juma, 2005). Nonetheless, the marginalization of women in Science, Technological, Engineering and Mathematical (STEM) disciplines is prevalent (Campion & Shrum, 2004; Erinosho, 1994). Not only are gender injustices in the STEM fields caused by organizational constraints of academic institutions stereotype threats, differential effect of work and family demands, implicit and explicit bias, and lack of women in academic leadership and decision-making positions (Hyde, 2005; National Academy of Sciences, 2007; Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999), they are also spurred by differential effect of work and family demands; implicit and explicit bias; and lack of women in academic leadership and decision-making positions (NSF ADVANCE, 2012).Gender imbalances are engrained in the STEM disciplinary domains in Ghana (Campion & Shrum, 2004) due to socio-cultural norms, poverty,

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sexual harassment from males, inadequate institutional facilities, and gender tag given to disciplines (Atuahene & Owusu-Ansah, 2013; Daddieh, 2003; Erinosho, 1994, Morley, Leach, & Lugg, 2009).

In Ghana, according to the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE, 2008) records, in the 2001/2002 academic year, 36.4 percent of all students in Ghana’s public universities pursued science and technical (S&T) disciplines. 25.9 percent of the S&T students were females. In the 2004/2005 academic year, total enrolment of students in S&T and females pursuing S&T had increased marginally to 37.7 percent and 30.8 percent respectively. The HERANA (2014) data for the University of Ghana shows that in the 2008/2009 academic year, the total number of female enrolments in S&T disciplines was 39 percent, 40 percent in 2009/2010, and 33 percent in 2010/2011 academic year. By 2010, women constituted a quarter of the faculty members at the University of Ghana (Tettey, 2010).

In order to increase the participation, retention, and attainment of females in STEM in the educational institutions and workplaces and nip gender disparities in the bud, prospective and existing STEM girls/women ought to be empowered. There are not any indispensable stakeholders in this end more than women in STEM fields. As such, this study delves into the perceptions of women in STEM concerning the manner empowerment activities should be conducted based on their gender experiences in their disciplinary domains. The research questions for the study are:

1. How do females in academic STEM fields in Ghana experience gender biases or discrimination relating to their STEM experiences?

2. What are the outcomes of their gender experiences in STEM?

3. How do they empower prospective and current women in STEM based on their experiences?

Empowerment Theory: Empowerment connects individual proficiency and expertise and proactive behaviors to social policy and change (Rappaport, 1981, 1984; Perkins & Douglas, 1995). Thus, it integrates the well-being of the individual to the larger socio-political environment. It demands critical appreciation of one’s environment (Zimmerman, Israel, Schulz, & Checkoway, 1992). The provenance of empowerment as a term is the feminist movement

and popular education championed by Paolo Friere (Luttrell et al., 2009).

There is a plethora of definitions of the concept of empowerment nonetheless they transcend the comparable yet confused traditional psychological constructs of self-esteem, self-efficacy, competency, and locus of control (Perkins & Zimmerman, 1995). Some scholars see it as a political concept while others see it as reflective of the individual consciousness and the power thereof (Luttrell et al., 2009). The various definitions are however consonant with empowerment as viewed by the Cornell Empowerment Group (2009) as “an intentional ongoing process centered in the local community, involving mutual respect, critical reflection, caring, and group participation, through which people lacking an equal share of valued resources gain greater access to and control over those resources” (Perkins & Zimmerman, 1995, p. 570). Empowerment denotes the control of people over their lives, requires democratic participation in their community lives (Rappaport, 1984), and demands a critical appreciation of one’s environment (Zimmerman et al., 1992).

Empowerment theories include processes and outcomes. The instrumentalist view of empowerment emphasizes on the importance of process (Luttrell et al., 2009). The transformative approach focuses on the outcomes that participation in empowerment processes lead to (Luttrell et al., 2009). Processes and outcomes vary in their manifestations by virtue of the fact that there is no monolithic standard that engrosses all contexts and populations (Rappaport, 1984; Zimmerman, 1983). Empowerment theory should include collective decision-making and shared leadership with access to government and community resources (Perkins & Zimmerman, 1995).

METHODOLOGY

From August to September 2014, 30 participants from various STEM disciplinesi were interviewed via in-depth semi-structured interviews. Purposive/criterion sampling, which focuses on the selection of participants based on certain characteristics (Patton, 1990), which in the context of the study were discipline, gender, and position or status of participants was adopted. Participants in STEM areas were chosen in the diverse STEM areas. Four research sites were utilized for the study based on geographical diversity and institutional differentiation. They were the University of Education Winneba (UEW), the University of Cape Coast

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(UCC), the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), and the Center for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).The data was analyzed through grounded theory which is an

inductive means of generating theory (Glaser, 1978; Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Mills, Booner, & Francis, 2006; Strauss & Corbin, 1998).

Table 1: Various STEM Disciplines of the Participants

Participant Discipline Disciplinary Category

KB JB

Materials Engineering Materials Engineering

Engineering

ML Mechanical Engineering

LA Agronomy Agriculture

PH Soil Science Soil Science CR

DM Agricultural Economics

PT Forestry/Natural Resources

BR Entomology/Wildlife Entomology/Wildlife Entomology/Wildlife

Biological Sciences

BM

LS

RM Biology Biology RK

PB Biotechnology

YD Microbiology Microbiology

Medical Sciences

PF

BL Physiology

YO Optometry

DI Nursing

NB Medical Laboratory Technology Medical Laboratory Technology WH

CV Clinical Psychology

HU Chemistry Education STEM Education IJ Biology Education

SV Science Education

NT Analytical Chemistry Chemistry

TM Polymer Chemistry

BE Planning Architecture

YM Physics Physical Sciences

DY Mathematics & Statistics Mathematics

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Fig. 1: Research Sites & Participant Numbers

RESULTS

The participants were asked to describe how they are or have been embarking on empowerment activities based on their gender experiences in their educational institutions they attended and their workplace. There were 5 trajectories on which the participants experienced gender biases. The trajectories were somewhat different, similar, and nuanced.

Trajectory 1: Trajectory of Minimal Gender Biases

Some of the participants on their trajectories from their basic school to tertiary education and career experienced minimal barriers of gender biases. The socialization in their nascent educational years from which they were beneficiaries immensely propelled them to surmount gender biases that came their way in the quest for success in the STEM academic and professional endeavors. Network membership in the academic settings was an important factor in their progression in their STEM educational journeys. The academic networks to which they belonged although strong, hinged on their self-efforts. In other words it was a decision that they made to join those networks that yielded their tenacity to succeed. Their individual efforts in joining certain professional or disciplinary societies and subsequently holding certain positions together with the males who formed the majority of the office holders gave them an advantage in their studies. These networks gave them opportunities to gain much knowledge from their disciplines and unearth their leadership potentials. Hence, leadership opportunities and academic advancement were benefits of the academic networks to which they belonged.

With regards to their study groups, the participants on this experiential path were peculiarly the linchpins of those networks made up of both males and females.

That is to say, their absence in group study meetings denoted the dearth of quality in those meetings. Although they were relied upon in those groups, they still benefited because it propelled them to study harder and it validated the knowledge they had in the subjects they were studying. As a result they were very good in their academic work and study groups cemented the knowledge they had in their studies. They did not necessarily prefer studying in groups but when it was the only option they had to utilize to do well in their studies, they ceased that opportunity very well:

In my department, we had the students’ Chemical Society, so I was a very active member. I was a secretary at the time most of the guys held executive positions.

I gained certain insights …that I would have lacked if I had not joined the chemical society and had not become an executive. My networks were strong, they were still supportive…it was exciting for me, trust me, the opportunities were also there to travel..I was also part of study groups and whenever group discussions came on and I didn’t come, they felt the discussion didn’t go on well. Before I joined the discussions, I had to make sure I finished studying whatever I am going there to discuss, so I only went there just to get confirmation of what I think or to explain to other people who did not understand.

Trajectory 2: Trajectory of Moderate Gender Biases

Participants on the moderate gender biased trajectory had fairly balanced or balanced experiences of support as well as gender bias or discrimination in the phases of their STEM journeys. They in other words received conflicting messages in their educational and/or career paths in STEM. The participants on this experiential path majored in

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STEM disciplinary domains in which females traditionally dominate. They experienced tacit gender biases from their minority male mates. In the nursing fields for example, the men and the women were addressed by the patients as doctors and nurses respectively although the former were nursing students. This implied that their female mates were inferior to them because in the Ghanaian society, medicine as a prestigious occupation, is tagged to males and is respected more than nursing, which is tagged to females. Within the realm of medicine, doctors have more authority by virtue of their training, specialty, and thus knowledge currency. Nurses assist doctors in the care of parents. The logic of men being heads or bosses in the domestic arena is extended to the higher education and STEM realms for that matter. The participants in this group were not surprised because they had the cultural awareness of the phenomenon of gender biases against women in the STEM domains. The nursing students were however not affected:

I think that for the females generally they were okay with it and sometimes when we even went to the wards, some of the patients would address the guys as doctors, even though they were student nurses. I think perhaps because of the societal perception that the doctor should be a male and a woman should be a nurse; so even some doctors who are females were being addressed as nurses, and then male nurses being addressed as doctors.

Trajectory 3: Trajectory of Surging Gender Biases

Respondents on this experiential path or trajectory had experiences different from the other aforementioned trajectories. The participants on this trajectory with their strong socialization started university with no gender bias. After their completion of the university education, they had experienced moderate gender bias, which worsened in their career years. Participants on this trajectory whose fathers were proud for their choice of hard science disciplines, in their daughters’ working years, however underscored the society’s cultural norm that places the preeminence of their domestic roles over their career roles. Thus their fathers played contradictory roles in their STEM journeys, denoting the resoluteness of culture. Although people try to absolve themselves from the discriminatory influence of culture concerning gender relations, they somewhat inadvertently end up being perpetrators of the same injustice they resolve not to mete out. It partly explains why the participants in this trajectory had surging experiences relative to gender

discrimination. An engineering professor shed more light of her father’s contradictory roles in her experiences:

I will attribute a lot of the things to culture. You see my dad, the one who encouraged me would still tell me look, you can go to all the universities in the world if you come and you sleep under my roof you will still go to the kitchen...I mean and he wasn’t only saying that when he was happy. He was saying that when he was really upset…he had felt that because I think I had gone to school I could stop doing some things.

Trajectory 4: Trajectory of Pre-Career Minimal Gender Biases

There was another group of participants whose socialization was so high that their pre-career (basic, junior and senior high school and university) years were fostered with massive supports and encouragements. However they transitioned into their working lives to encounter entirely new gender experiences characterized with marginalization and discrimination. Respondents on this trajectory grappled with excessive gender discrimination in their workplace environments and at home while navigating between their professional and family obligations. Some of their male mates in the universities who treated them well, studied with them, and encouraged them ironically became perpetrators of gender discrimination in their workplaces. The discrimination extended to the extent of attempts made by ex-mates to close down departments that some of the participants were heading. Their male colleagues preferred the departments closing down to successful department led by the women. The perpetrators did not want the women to lead them so they really opposed them. There were other atrocities meted out to women on this experiential path. One participant narrated how her former male mate, who later became her workplace colleague and senior, sabotaged her to the effect that she lost her scholarship to a Welsh university:

The men who tried to impede my efforts in academia were my friends in university and in academia until I was offered a position. When I was a student in [university name withheld], I studied with them. Some of them accompanied me to [hall name withheld] after studying late in the night. These friends turned into enemies when I was elevated. You know the

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opposition persisted even to the point that a British Council Commonwealth scholarship to [institution’s name withheld] was awarded to me but one of my colleagues who was a Head of Department and his clique told me that the VC had written a letter revoking the scholarship.

Trajectory 5: Trajectory of Fluctuating Gender Biases

The last group of participants experienced minimal gender biases before their university years. They however experienced high gender bias during the tertiary education phase but in their working years, there was a reversion to minimal gender bias. The structural composition of the classes that they were in was initially intimidating to them owing to the fact that they were going to the university from girls’ high schools. This structural composition was compounded by the physical structures of the men and their discriminatory outlook. This was the manner of difference of the classroom structures as sources of gender discrimination between participants in this group as compared to those of other groups. This vividly illustrates non-verbal communication as an important way of communicating gender discrimination. The participants could read the meaning of such body structures contextually and movements thereof. The narrative is that men are physically strong and that they wield power and authority. Women, according to this narrative, are supposed to be beneficiaries of men’s patronages. They felt the guys wanted them to follow their (the guys) directions. They were however not scathed because the intimidation they felt was transient. They got focused on the purpose for which they went to the universities apparently due to the high socialization and supports they had and benefited from in their pre-higher education stages. Socialization into STEM and supports were vital to nipping intimidation emanating from gender discrimination into the bud:

I think it was a class of – I don’t remember – but around twenty-two or thirty and we were only four ladies. Well, initially I felt intimidated for the very first time in my life; because here you are with – and I was very – I was smallish in size. And then the guys were all – the males were huge and tall and all of that; yeah…they felt like you’re a lady – you know – that’s the typical African. You don’t have to – um – take any responsibility in the class. You have to listen to the gentlemen and all of that. And I am not like that, I’m so outspoken. When I quickly directed my attention to my

studies, I was intimidated no more. Outcomes of Experiences

This phase of the STEM educational trajectory focuses on where the participants find themselves now in terms of their designations and the product of their experiences, how they achieved their feats, and how they feel now after their experiences. In other words, the participants’ outputs, positions, and conditions after their STEM constituted the outcomes. There were four outcomes among the five trajectories. Thus, one outcome was conjunctive of two trajectories.

Professional Productivity: Trajectory 1

Owing to the experiences of the participants on this particular STEM educational path who peculiarly had overwhelming positive experiences (the socialization, the networks, and all other supports) relative to their STEM experiences, their outcomes were very outstanding. They talked about high academic and/or professional productivity characterizing their careers. Their network transcended national scope and borders. They have international research partners through whose efforts they are winning grants awards and leading in research exercises. In a broader perspective, faculty members are not only transmitters and producers of knowledge but generators of revenue to the academy. Winning grants awards for research is cardinal to the professional development of faculty and progression of the academy. One faculty member who has been teaching for two and a half years did not hide her joy in talking about the two grants, both international grants, she had won thus far:

I joined the university in 2012 and since then I have had two research grants, one from DANIDA. Yeah, I applied for a grant from DANIDA and I had the award. And I applied for another grant from the University of Michigan – STEM something – and had that grant too, so I am just about beginning the second. It’s being undertaken in Ghana. Yeah I have partners in Michigan and I have partners and university of Utah and I have a partner in Netherlands. And he is the one that I said I am trying to work out my PhD with and I am the local PI.

Their academic feats have fetched them networks that have yielded significant dividends which have

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enhanced their professional careers. One participant, hitherto constrained by the lack of experimental equipment, was able to procure equipment to further her research by networking internationally with her research partners:

I didn’t have training tools – by that I mean equipment to train. In terms of professional development I fell short as a result. Even my work…how I suffered because of the equipment! They are not there. So for my work, my research partners from a research institute Netherlands gave me money to buy my machine. Netherlands – they gave me money to buy my machine and that was it. That was what I bought. So they gave me nine thousand, eight hundred and something.

The high academic productivity they talked about also included the publications they have which have made them due for promotion. They had to satiate this expectation in view of the reality of the “publish or perish” phenomenon. Once you are not publishing in peer reviewed journals, you are not going to be promoted and may be axed from your job. In the academy contribution to knowledge production is central. Productivity by publishing was significant to the participants in this trajectory:

I have published not less than twelve articles in peer reviewed journals in Chemistry in seven years. I’m a lecturer now. I’ll be soon promoted to senior lecturer but still waiting for my letter…I have been notified that I will be promotion letter will be mailed to me very soon.

Imminent Attainment: Trajectory 2

Owing to their moderate gender experiences (replete with support and biases), the participants made moderate accomplishments. It was to the effect that their doctoral studies’ completion, which was long overdue, because it was dragged by discriminatory practices, had now come into fruition. Despite all the drawbacks and supports, their doctoral completion was imminent. They had been impeded by their employers in terms of financial aid due them and they had to struggle to explore other funding options. By using their social realities as women as alibi, as unjustifiable as they were, they were denied financial aid by their employers. When they however secured

funding, they were aided to progress and they are close to graduating in their doctoral studies:

There was a scholarship opportunity for PhD studies but I was denied that because I had recently gotten married and the panel felt I should spend more time enjoying my marriage rather than leaving my husband for school. I had to find alternative funding sources and I’m so glad now because I commenced my PhD program with adequate funding. I would have been done if they had given me the first scholarship. Nonetheless I will be done with my PhD in plant breeding very soon. If I reflect on how I have been the victim of nasty comments, some of them pointed, others sarcastic, and all the unnecessary and deliberate delays, mostly from male characters as well as the encouragements and mentorship I enjoyed, I have realized that I have succeeded.

Prolonged Attainment and Health Issues: Trajectories 3 & 4

The participants came out of their experiences with challenging outcomes. The enormity of their duties both at their homes and in their workplaces had to a large extent slowed down their aspirations relative to their careers. As master graduates who were employed in the academy as faculty members, they relished the opportunities to further their education by undertaking doctoral studies. However, their doctoral education lasted very long. They said their doctoral studies and completion were delayed because of the hindrances they experienced. They talked about the manner their doctoral education was slowed by the overwhelming tasks they were expected to undertake. For them support from the home and workplace would have made it easier for them to have completed the doctoral degree education. In the absence of such support, their doctoral education slacked. That is to say, they were on their own in terms of navigating among their family, academic, and professional functions:

I haven’t been able to finish it each one of them and you have responsibilities at home as well. There are times when the stress level is so high – there are times when the stress level is so high that you really don’t know what to do with yourself you know. And so like I said for me I think I concentrated more on the teaching because I felt like well once the students are in school I have to do everything possible,

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you’ve been given courses you have to take care of them and then academic counseling I have to do that and then those attention to this. So I left my research work my PHD program completely because I couldn’t just balance it all.

They, as a consequence of balancing their manifold duties (family, professional, and academic duties), had debilitating consequences. Their sleeping hours had tremendously reduced, which in turn degenerated into health problems. In other words, satiating diverse expectations, which were very significant, affected them adversely with implication for their academic productivity. A participant discussing how protecting her health implied compromising her academic productivity:

So I came back here once teaching and then working on my PHD thesis at the same time and a lot of times I have just a few hours of sleep and that affected me. In fact that was when I started but my blood pressure was always going up or be in the hospital. Sometimes it goes very high up then doctor tells me listen you have to rest and I tell him I have a deadline to meet. One time my doctor was so angry with me I must say, he was like would die instead of you know. So I have to slow down. I have to slow down so there were times when the moment I feel like I am getting complications my BP is going up, you just have to take some time off.

Leadership and Doctoral Admission: Trajectory 5

Some of the participants in this group have been holding leadership positions in their overwhelmingly male-dominated departments. To become a leader (Head of Department specifically) in the academy or any organizations presupposes that one has achieved a lot and has passed through the mill in terms of training and experience. That person should have led in lower levels of the organization and as such is endowed with leadership skills. He or she might be well versed or conversant in the management of human relations relative to organizational goals. As such he or she will have the capacity to steer the affairs of the department or other organizations. Academic or professional

accomplishment is or can be a prerequisite for leading departments or any organization. It is believed that with those sorts of accomplishments, one when given leadership opportunities, would be able to bring his or her “stock-in-trade” to bear in influencing the organization to realize its goals. For a faculty member who rises to a leadership position, it is felt that he or she would, by virtue of his or her accomplishments, put the department at the forefront of teaching, scholarship, research, and service. For the participants on this experiential path to have risen through the departmental rungs to leadership position was significant. More significant were those who happened to be the only female in the departments they were heading. One of them, amazed at the manner of the rapidity of her rise to leadership in her department, particularly said:

When I came to this department, little did I know that I will soon rise to head it[referring to the department]. I’m proud that I’m the only female here who happened to be the head of this department.

Some of the participants have been awarded with fellowship from their institutions sponsored by agencies under international philanthropic organizations to go and undertake doctoral studies in their field. They have been able to achieve this feat based on the support whether academic networks or spiritual support. Such fellowships are enhancing their educational progression and giving them opportunities to gain exposure through travel. A faculty member who is simultaneously a graduate student shed more light of the internationally renowned fellowship from a globally known philanthropic foundation dedicated to education among other fields that she won and the benefits she gained from it:

I’ll say that with this AWWORD fellowship that I had; they have really helped me. AWWORD fellowship, I think it’s being run by – it’s a support from Bill and Melinda Gates…the PhD is being sponsored by AGRA, also under Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Now, I’m good. I will say that I’m happy where I am now and will say that I’m very fortunate, glory be to God because one wouldn’t get this kind of smooth transition in education. Right after Master’s I’m doing a PhD; you have won an

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AWWORD fellowship. And I just returned from the US and it was from this AWWORD fellowship.

Empowerment

The participants based on their experiences have embarked on rigorous empowerment activities. These activities are geared towards helping females whether in the pre-tertiary education, tertiary education, and/or career levels to rise against the odds to succeed in their STEM endeavors. Like the outcomes, the empowerment activities were not necessarily restricted to particular trajectories.

Psychological Empowerment: Trajectory 1

Participants on this trajectory have been empowering females in STEM by psyching them to face gender barriers which are realities in the Ghanaian society. Gender barriers to them can however be surmounted. Psychological empowerment if pursued well wards off the phenomenon of the Cinderella Complex. This is a phenomenon in which dependents, females in STEM in this case, rely on their “Prince” to extricate them from gender inequalities. Support from men, educational institutions, the state or government, donor agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations are metaphorical representations of the Prince. Altering the system to favor females by virtue of their gender is counterproductive because it is tantamount to begging the system for concessions. Females are believed by the participants to have the inherent self-determination and agency that enable them overcome gender impediments. By psychologically empowering them through mentorship and advice, the capacity of girls and women to overcome gender inequalities is awakened. A faculty member in underscoring the philosophy of psychological empowerment has been advising girls in science that she encounters to get the self-confidence and mental capacity necessary for success in their disciplinary realms:

Creating avenues for females who have issues with their education to achieve equality by advising, and encouraging referring to one’s experience like “that I have been able to do that through this” is fine. That one you are not going to seek for special dispensation for them…I would not go out there saying this is a female so you have to do this. I just advise them that they shouldn’t look

down upon themselves but strive towards their goal, whatever they want to do they should just fight for it and work towards it, they shouldn’t limit themselves or be intimidated by the boys…And then whatever is available for you to use to achieve your aim or goal you should work with it to make things better because nobody will help you but it’s your own mentality on how you perceive things. So the structures there are not favoring us...just see yourself as somebody – I can make it.

To translate their psyching of female students into having their belief that they can surmount challenges in their STEM experiences, the faculty members have been empowering their students in the lecture rooms to make them assertive. Through classroom/pedagogical management engrossing the structure of the rooms, potential and existing occurrences of gender discrimination are nipped in the bud. A faculty member narrated how the arrangement of the sitting positions like a parliament with its checks and balances has been able to stifle gender discrimination:

my students are all honorable members, they understand that concept very well…So they call me Speaker of Parliament…So my session is parliament session. I introduce all my topics as parliamentary debates because they’re a large class and you have to find a way to engage everybody. The point is when they raise any issue that is not honorable, members will bring them to order. So one would say, ‘honorable member, I put it to you, you’re out of order’ to halt any sexist comment or tangential statement…and then you would have a majority speaker somewhere – someone who constantly contributes.

Holistic Empowerment: Trajectories 2, 4, & 5

The participants have adopted broad gender empowerment styles focusing on helping both males and females disadvantaged in STEM at the educational levels. To them it is not enough to rely solely on the efforts of females in STEM only to face gender discrimination. They are of the conviction that

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gender discrimination is very complex and pervasive. Utilizing only one way to eradicate it will not be successful. Holistic empowerment involves using all legitimate avenues of curtailing gender discrimination. Hence, participants are using diverse ways of addressing gender inequities in STEM.

They believe that empowerment should not be confined to females but males as well especially the disadvantaged ones. To them, the STEM fields must be open to all who have the interest and capacity to undertake them and focusing on males is vital to erasing gender discrimination in STEM:

For me all that I have been trying to do is to conscientize the boys. As they grow up you see, I let them know that there are certain activities that are not just for women and so when, whiles they are growing up I teach them to be a part of family life and to also you know help take care of the woman.

Another way that they are doing this is by confronting the gender tagging of disciplines in the Ghanaian society. One participant explained how she is empowering through historical experience of her STEM field and profession in order to make nursing hospitable to both genders:

I think that the society needs more education on what nursing is and what it entails and the fact that – in fact, the history of nursing even in Ghana started with males, which most people don’t know about that. So if the society gets more education on nursing, I think perhaps the males will be encouraged to pursue it because it is an interesting profession. I started this drive a few months ago. So far that is what I have been doing to stop feminizing nursing.

The basis of holistic empowerment is to promote fairness and equity in empowerment. One participant said that her initiative to enhance the interest of girls

in science will be incomplete unless the boys are included:

I think there are other…locally, there are institutions which are trying to help girls out to do science including the ladies club in my institution. I believe and it informs my small efforts, and that is the “but”…one other thing you have to – you have to think about is you are promoting girls and then leaving the guys out. It will get to a time that when the boys will need special interventions. I act with both boys and girls in mind.

Spiritual Empowerment: Trajectory 3

The female STEM participants in this group have been empowering themselves and other females in STEM through spirituality. Owing to the tremendous discrimination they had grappled with, they have resorted foremost to spiritual empowerment. Almost all of the participants are Christians. They have sought divine assistance and have relied on them ever since. They believed their exclusive human efforts were not enough for them to overcome their challenges. Their belief in God as the succor in all their bitter experiences has been the reason they have been resolute in facing challenges. God and Jesus to them, are able to weather any storm so believing in him, has been key to surmounting challenges. They also have been imparting this belief to the females that they meet or mentor:

I tell myself and others that we should have confidence and trust in the Lord and then believe that God will open the way for them where there seems to be no way. And the young ladies in my church they are always happy to talk to – when I am talking to them, they feel so excited and empowered and I am thinking about in future establishing something like that to counsel ladies.

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Fig 2: The Trajectories, Outcomes and Empowerment Drives of the Participant

DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Ghanaian society is deeply patriarchal (Manuh, 1989; Tsikata, 2007). Gender disparities extend to the educational institutions (Bunyi, 2003; Erinosho, 1994; Tsikata, 2001) and the workplace (Acker, 2000). Many women in STEM career fields in Ghana find their academic/institutional atmospheres largely uneven and intimidating (Campion & Shrum, 2004; Lundgren & Prah, 2009).

The utilization of holistic empowerment is consistent with empowerment theory’s collective action-based

decision-making and shared leadership with access to government and community resources like for e.g. media (Zimmerman & Perkins, 1995). Unlike this type of empowerment which is all encompassing, the other types are niche forms of empowerment which cater for segments of the populations of females. Psychological empowerment has mental health ramifications(Kasturirangan, 2008) considering that some of the participants had health issues, hypertension in particular, which engrosses mental

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health in the form of anxiety, depression, and stress (Kretchy, Owusu-Daaku, & Danquah, 2014).The process of this type of empowerment involves perceived control, perceptions of competence, and the internalization of the goals and objectives of the environment (Menon, 1999).Spiritual empowerment the psyching of oneself to rely on God or any Supernatural Being involves foregoing abhorrent acts and practices while living in conformity with the will of the deity. There is a nexus or an association between spirituality/religion and well-being so people use the former to manage stressful lives (Dein, Cook, Powell, & Eagger, 2010).

Further studies ought to be pursued in the areas of outcomes of empowerment. This study found out vividly the processes of the various shades of empowerment. Since the empowerment activities were nascent, the outcomes should be thoroughly inquired in the next few years. More so, there should be comparative work of the empowerment activities of women in the STEM fields and those in the non-STEM fields.

Limitations

This study was a prong of a wider gender study. It specifically focused on the psychological/mental health ramification of women in academic STEM domains in Ghana higher education system. It is imperative in the future to conduct an in-depth inquiry into the implications of the workload of the academy on STEM women in Ghanaian tertiary education institutions. There can also be comparative studies on the same topical area between women in STEM and those in non-STEM as well as women and men in STEM. Findings from such studies together with those of this study can be integrated into institutional policies concerning the health and productivity of people in the academy especially women. The productivity and health issues are not mutually exclusive. If such issues are institutionalized, compliance to them must be ensured to enhance the progress and unearth the potential of the people in the academy.

Faculty members, should as a matter of importance, take their work and health seriously and treat them as priorities. Self discipline and time management are vital in their being successful in this feat. Family duties, professional, and personal duties are very indispensable but ensuring that they are not undertaken at the expense of rest and balanced and timely dieting is also vital. They should be checking their health statuses including mental health

periodically. There is the proclivity that when one is not ill, there is no need to go to the hospital. Being proactive about one’s health potentially prevents the emergence and growth of illnesses that can harm one’s health.

CONCLUSION

Gender disparities are prevalent in all aspects of the Ghanaian society including its educational sector. Women are underrepresented in one of the most relevant set of disciplinary domains: the Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Nonetheless, the STEM fields are believed to be sine qua non to the socio-economic development of nations. In order to increase the participation, retention, attainment, and equity of females in STEM and nip gender disparities in those fields in the bud, prospective and existing women in STEM ought to be empowered. This study delved into the perceptions of women in STEM concerning the manner empowerment activities should be conducted based on their gender experiences in their disciplinary domains. There were five different trajectories among the participants concernsing their experiences. Corresponding outcomes of experiences and conceptions of empowerment of psychological and mental health significance were somewhat similar, nuanced, and different.

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