The University of Ghana’s first female graduate, Elizabeth Frances Sey, earned her degree in 1953, barely five years after the institution’s founding. Yet, it took 70 years for a woman to become president of the same university that had been graduating women for 65 years.
In terms of the students, it took 59 years after the University’s founding for a woman to be elected as the head of the Students Representative Council. Even though one of those positions was held temporarily, two more have since taken it.
The decades-long absence of women from influential positions within the University and even outside of it is proof of Ghanaian society’s subtly patriarchal structure.
For instance, there are just 35 female MPs in the 275-member Parliament. This percentage barely accounts for 12.75 per cent of the total Parliament.
There has been a notable turnabout in Ghana’s somewhat unequal attitude toward representation and decision-making over the course of the last ten or so years.
The first female was Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo. Speaker of the House, Justice Rtd. Georgina Theodora Wood, the first female Chief Justice, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, the first female Chief of Staff, and numerous more strong women who held such positions before other women.
On a global scale, efforts are being made to raise the proportion of women holding prominent positions in a range of fields. Women are being actively encouraged to participate in governance, athletics, and corporate leadership.
An affirmative action strategy was implemented at the student level at the University of Ghana to boost female enrollment, particularly in fields and staff posts where men predominate. Even before recent research on gender inequities in Ghana’s tertiary education system was published, the University has been actively mentoring young female academics and staff members as part of a major plan.
Kimberly Christel’s study identified the lack of female authority figures and sexual harassment as contributing causes. I get the impression that the University of Ghana is addressing these concerns head-on. At least in a few different ways, the outcomes of these efforts are starting to become apparent.
The University of Ghana has approximately 50% of its central administration heads who are women at the moment, making it the first and only tertiary institution with all of its present key executives being female. A growing number of women are leading the university’s academic departments.
The University of Ghana, the largest postsecondary institution in the nation, has recorded a higher female-to-male ratio for the first time in recent history as a direct result of its efforts. The University recorded a 51:49 female-to-male admissions ratio in the most recent admission cycle, exceeding its goal for female enrolment.
Many women can now pursue higher education in even some of the most male-dominated fields, in part because of the University’s fair admissions policy.
Angela and Alhassan, two smart women from the computer engineering and information technology departments, are people I’ve met.
With an 11-grade point average, Angela enrolled in an information technology program where women make up roughly 20% of the student body right now.
Alhassan, on the other hand, was admitted with a grade point of 12 to study computer engineering. She is currently employed by a large software company in Accra. There are presently 22.1% fewer female students enrolled in the Computer Engineering program than male students.
Without the affirmative action policy, thousands of other females, like Angela and Alhassan, could have been forced to change their career paths or, at worst, live with an unjust system for the rest of their lives.
The University of Ghana’s dedication to fulfilling Sustainable Development Goal 4, which asks for efforts to provide inclusive and equitable quality education, is made compellingly, in my opinion, by this.