07 Jan, 2020

Programme Manager Jennifer Udeh speaks in Nigerian press about female leadership

Jennifer Udeh

 

Our Programme Manager, Jennifer Udeh, has been featured in NewsWire Nigeria speaking about the lack of women in leadership positions in academia. She says,

"There are challenges within academic research in sub-Saharan Africa – its lack of women in senior positions. While the marginalisation of women isn’t a new story, academia should be setting the bar."

Jennifer worked with a consortium of partners, including the African Association of Universities (AAU) and the National Council of Tertiary Education, to lead a study on higher education faculty in Ghana. The study found there are just 8 female lecturers in public universities across the whole of the country. In Nigeria, the situation is similar, with only 17% of principle officers at universities being female. 

At ESSA we recently launched the African Evidence Research Database which profiles African-led research. One of the ambitions for this platform is for it to promote more female academics so they can gain funding and exposure. We are also building a database which will match scholarship providers with those looking for academic scholarships and funding in sub-Saharan Africa which will launch in spring this year. 

Women in leadership will be a focus for ESSA in 2020. We’re on the lookout for a corporate partner to establish a women’s network that brings together the business and academic worlds. Our aim is to address the unique challenges women face on the continent and ensure women are sufficiently represented in leadership positions.  


For press inquiries, please email gemma@essa-africa.org or call +44 7551742384

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