How universities in Senegal are empowering girls, women with skills and entrepreneurship (A UNESCO feature)
Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - “The skills and entrepreneurship training supported me as an entrepreneur to have a better chance of success with my startup,” says Betty Kane, a recent graduate from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Biology at École Supérieure Polytechnique (ESP) of Dakar, Senegal.
Co-founding CHEESE’SEN, a startup producing “Cheeses made in Senegal,” Betty aims to establish her enterprise as a global leader in the cheese industry.
In 2021, her startup won the Second prize at the Polytechnic Exhibition, followed by the First prize at the Entrepreneurship Challenge in 2022. Betty now stands as a proud ESP alumna and a female entrepreneurship ambassador.
This young entrepreneur’s story reflects the broader efforts of Senegalese universities to empower girls and women through higher technical education.
Riding the wave of the Fourth industrial revolution, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have emerged as driving forces of innovation and socio-economic transformation.
Yet, despite the increased female school attendance, social barriers and gender biases discourage girls from pursuing STEM education. Bridging the gender gap and enhancing technical and entrepreneurial skills holds the key to supporting girls and women to navigate this era of change.
Echoing the aspirations of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the China Fund-in-Trust Project Phase III: Higher Technical Education in Africa for an Innovative Workforce (CFIT III) supports universities in Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda to strengthen gender-responsive higher technical education to equip youth with skills to thrive and lead transformative changes.
In Senegal, École Supérieure Polytechnique of Dakar (ESP) and École Polytechnique of Thiès (EPT), two CFIT III partner higher education institutions, have taken proactive steps from 2022 onward to encourage female participation in STEM subjects and foster skills development among girls and women.
EPT and ESP promoted female engagement in STEM education through high school visits and awareness-raising campaigns in all regions of Senegal. The campaigns invited students enrolled in higher technical programmes to share with girls that STEM fields are not reserved for men only.
This empowers girls preparing for baccalaureate exams to see themselves in STEM education and careers. Over 18 months, the initiative reached 113 high schools and engaged with over 5,000 girls in Senegal.
ESP further encouraged girls by waiving application fees for the top-performing female candidates, promoting equal access to STEM education.
In a similar spirit, EPT celebrated “Women and Sciences Day” in May 2023, bringing together female experts from diverse scientific backgrounds to explore the role of women scientists and engineers in higher education, research, and Senegal’s socio-economic growth.
The event concluded with awards for the 20 best-performing girls from high schools in Thiès, cheering them on to embrace the world of science and technology.
At the policy level, universities enhanced policy and regulatory frameworks promoting gender equality in STEM education and improving learning.
For instance, ESP organised a workshop in July 2022 to formulate a gender equality policy within the institution. The workshop adopted 18 recommendations to advance gender equality among students and teachers, such as excellence awards for the top female students, gender services to support female students in their continued success, and personal development workshops for women, among others.
In their commitment to empowering women with skills, both universities highlighted entrepreneurship and innovative skills development. This responds to the skill needs for the formalization of the informal economy, a sector employing 9 out of 10 of the workers in Senegal.
Entrepreneurial training equips female students to lead in STEM-related careers, catalyzing the transformation of the informal economy towards sustainable development.
Every year, ESP holds its “Polytechnic Exhibition” and “Entrepreneurship Challenge” to fuel entrepreneurial spirit, where students collaborate in cross-disciplinary teams to propose innovative products and services.
As the success stories of graduates like Betty Kane continue to unfold, the impact reaches beyond the classrooms, demonstrating the potential of girls and women when provided with the right skills and opportunities.
Moreover, by leveraging entrepreneurial skills development through higher technical education, female students, once perceived mainly as technical executives, are now encouraged to embrace new roles as entrepreneurs and job creators, becoming powerful catalysts for change.
From the strategic formulation of gender quality policies to initiatives that reached thousands of young girls in Senegal, EPT and ESP set examples for fostering inclusivity and driving transformation in the country.
Ms. Sagna Awa Ndiaye, Director of the Centre for Port and Logistics Training at ESP, captured the impact, saying “Today, we are witnessing a profound transformation of our societies, where the once-existing barriers between fields reserved for men or women are fading.
"Women are now rightfully taking their place in STEM fields that once considered reserved for men, and they’re doing so exceptionally well.”
In partnership with UNESCO-CFIT III, ÉSP and ÉPT are committed to expanding the initiatives to further support women and girls to shine in STEM and illuminate the way towards an inclusive and prosperous future for Senegal and the African continent.
-0- PANA VAO/MA 19Oct2023
