A Senior Lecturer at Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), DrGiftyGyamera, has asked government to formulate deliberate policies to support women pursue higher education.
She said any such move would help bridge the gender inequity gap at the higher education level.
DrGyamera made the call during a forum to discuss the gender inequity gap in higher education and measures to address them, in Accra, on Tuesday.
It was part of the Gender Equity and Women in Higher Education Writing Programme, being sponsored by the Australian Government and implemented by the Center of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education (CEEHE).
The programme is aimed at creating collaboration and mentoring opportunities for women in higher education.
DrGyamera said observed that that there were more male lecturers than female lecturers at higher education level, which ought to be addressed.
“Now you cannot teach without PhD at the University and so there must be conscious effort by the government or stakeholders to promote females in higher education to pursue PhD,” she stated.
In view of this, DrGyamerasaid scholarships must be provided for women to pursue their PhD in order to bridge the gender inequity gap at the higher education level.
She said that the number of ‘academic papers’ that women PhD holders need to publish to be promoted could be reduced.
D rGyamera urged women to collaborate with their counterparts outside the country to co-author academic publications.
At the institutional level, she said, organisations needed to support their female staff to pursue higher education to help train more female lecturers.
The Human Resource Director at GIMPA, Mrs Victoria Kunbuor, said academic work at the higher education level favour men than women.
She suggested that professors “should be paired with women who have the capacity to write academic papers for publications.”
That,MrsKunbuor said would help equip women to assume leadership positions at the higher education level.
“We do not say that standards must be lowered for women, but what we are asking for is support be provided for women to be able to meet those criteria so that they can assume leadership positions and the gap can be bridged,” she added.
BY VIVIAN ARTHUR
