Girls’ access to scientific and technology training in higher education in Ivory Coast

Following the post-electoral crisis in 2011, Ivory Coast was plunged into a gloomy pit of decline, for which the economy and educational sectors were among others, the most affected.

Small villages and cities had been deserted, and bigger cities included the capital, were overcrowded. The results of the overpopulation led to a repartition of 3 classes to the care of one teacher. School results became historically disastrous. The urgent challenge was bravely taken up by the new ministry of education in place, which recruited and trained 3000 teachers, in the course of the year 2012, to mitigate the deficit. New schools were also built and others renovated. Students performances improved considerably compared to the previous year, and the current educational system seems to have relatively dampen the chronic fragility and instability Ivory Coast’s education had suffered for several years.

The government’s focus has now shifted to stretching every sector towards development. Its objective is to enable Ivory Coast to become an emerging country by 2020. Therefore, all areas of development are being explored. An area of education which was previously seen as secondary is now at the forefront of discussions and interests, namely: Girls’ access to scientific and technology training in higher education.

For decades, girls have been significantly underrepresented in faculties of sciences, research and development. This deficit is not only visible in universities, but also in public and private sectors.

Given that Ivory Coast is positioning himself in line with the 2015 and post 2015 Millennium Development Goals, measures are being sought to solve the issue. It is in this perspective that the board of the ministry of  higher education and scientific research has recently organised a brainstorming session on the topic, in order to find out the reasons for which girls are not engaging in technology and scientific courses and how to remedy to this huge gap. In her own terms, the Ministerial principal private secretary exclaimed: “I am delighted that we are having this brainstorming session, which indicates the institutional acknowledgement of the much necessary equality of opportunities between men and women, with regards to scientific knowledge”.

It is true, indeed that the issue is getting more recognition and it justifies that Ivory Coast  included in the National Development Plan of the Education/ Training sector (1998-2010), the intention of reducing all the disparities in education. This plan included among other actions, the development of a national scientific and technological culture, and the promotion of an environment conducive to girls’ access to general learning and training in sciences and technology.  Despite the long-running implementation of the plan, women still hold a striking minority place in the faculties of sciences, technology and research.

It becomes beholden to policy makers, practitioners and the education authorities to critically think about the causes of this problem and find an effective solution.

What could be the reasons why women are not interested in technology, research and scientific subjects? Are they following a traditional, local, national, or international pattern of interests for girls? Before going further, it is worth noting that scientific and technology subjects are widely recognised as not very attractive to girls across many countries, a state of affairs revealing to be more poignant in low income countries, such as Ivory Coast, where financial and material resources are limited.

Considering such a generalised situation, efforts to convert the trend appear to be a great challenge. There is more likelihood that influencing our perspectives on the subjects will have greater impact.

In any case, an element of gender perceptions will have to be treated duly to influence choices of schools or higher education subjects.

But before the gender issues are discussed, it is necessary to understand what has been the general perception of the population in Ivory Coast of technology, scientific and research education. Were there even considered as relevant subjects to the development of the country? Have all elements contributing to Ivory Coast’s development been thoroughly researched and promoted? Admittedly, the local government has understood the worth of technology and sciences in development, which explain why these subjects were intended to be promoted as part of the National development Plan.

The question is, how much has it been promoted? Were the strategies used to change the national culture towards these subjects strong enough to yield the desired results? We know the answer since the plan which run for over a decade did not succeed.  It therefore becomes imperative to change strategies, modify plans and have greater impact! The promotion of sciences, technology and research subject have to move from the backyard, to the front of promotion for Development in Ivory Coast.

A system of campaigns can be put in place which will lead individuals to realise first of all that greater participation in these subjects is conducive to finding means of developing the country.

Arguably, people are unaware of certain personal and societal benefits that girls’ participation in research, technology and sciences can produce. First of all, it will contribute to having a diversity of
scientific knowledge, but also will enable women to have a balanced participation in responsibilities.  

Besides, science, technology and innovation can facilitate efforts to eradicate poverty, achieve food security, fight against diseases, improve the quality of education and increase decent work opportunities, given that scientific and technological subjects are also the most productive in employment of quality.

As these benefits are promoted and highlighted, investigations should also be carried out, to find out if girls are not discouraged from attending such courses. Do parents encourage or deter girls who express a desire to follow a scientific career? What are the measures taken in schools to support girls who want to follow this path? How do boys react to girls choosing this path? The government and educational system in place should ensure the environment in which girls are raised and educated is conducive to learning sciences, technology and do research.