Science Education for Girls and Women: The Situation in Nigeria
by Adeyinka G. Falusi

Developing countries must train more scientists if they are to compete in a globalized economy. Nations such as Nigeria cannot afford to waste human potential, male or female, yet girls and women in that country are faced with a daunting array of internal and external obstacles to careers in science. In her enlightening article, Dr. Adeynika Falusi clearly outlines the psychological, cultural and economic barriers that keep Nigerian women away from the sciences and proposes solutions to right the gender balance.

by Adeyinka G. Falusi, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, L'OREAL-UNESCO For Women Science Laureate 2001 Africa

Science education is a must for the radical development of a nation. Nigeria has a population of over 133 million (ref. World Bank Report No. 29771-UNI), of which 50.7% are females.The importance of gender mainstreaming cannot be overemphasized. Nigeria is a signatory to numerous international conventions and charters such as The Millennium Declaration, The Beijing Platform of Action, and The Convention on the Elimination of Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) that endeavor to enhance girls' and women's participation in development.

Why Girls in Nigeria Might Avoid the Sciences

Science education in Nigeria is affected by significant gender disparity at the tertiary level of education due to the high attrition rate of girls from schools. As well, although desirable in theory, science education is, in reality, less attractive to girls in Nigeria. Reasons include:

The disparity between the cost of science courses and the cost of humanities courses in tertiary institutions.

The time required for bench work in laboratories discourages some.

A lack of early financial returns in science-based jobs.

Scarcity of support and encouragement for practical science education. Outdated, outmoded equipment is used to teach students in a purely theoretical fashion.

The erroneous belief that highly educated women never find husbands.

The perception that women are not expected to be breadwinners, but rather homemakers, makes it extremely difficult for them to opt for a science-based education.

Obstacles to Science Education for Girls and Women in Nigerian Society

In recent years, an upward trend in the number of females in medicine and pharmacy has been observed in our tertiary institutions in Nigeria, but this is not the case for mathematics, engineering and other ''hard core'' sciences. Since parents are responsible for their children's education and expect quick returns on their educational investment, the challenges ahead still include:

• The lack of accurate gender databases.


• A low capacity for viable gender grassroots mobilization and public enlightenment.


• Discrimination resulting from legal systems, Sharia and traditional customs.


• A lack of specific financial support for science and science-based education.


• A lack of specific remuneration for science-intense jobs to compensate for the extra effort required.


• The perception that the advanced core sciences interfere with homemaking in a way that the humanities do not.


• The practice of early marriages, which is a disincentive for girls to pursue science education.


• The idea that all monies spent on girls will be to the benefit of families they eventually marry into.

Recommendations

An interdisciplinary team that includes development economists, social scientists, gender specialists and women scientist role models (L'Oreal-UNESCO FWIS) should be established to develop a true science gender database in Nigeria. The legal system in Nigeria should be reviewed to address explicitly ''the girl-child-in-science-education'' and target traditional systems that discriminate on the basis of gender. This should improve the chances of a greater number of girls and young women venturing into science education in Nigeria.

The L'OREAL-UNESCO progamme should be encouraged to fund specific interventions that will stimulate and steer girls and young women in their localities into science-based education using FWIS role models in their different domains.