Women are under-represented in leadership and teaching roles in Zambia’s engineering faculties, says the first Zambian woman to obtain a PhD in mining engineering, Dr Ebelia Manda. The main reason is that, in many countries, including her own, women are not encouraged to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

Manda, a mining engineering lecturer at Copperbelt University in Kitwe, Zambia, has a research interest in gender equity. “Governments should implement policies that promote equal access to education for women, particularly in STEM fields,” she said, adding that this would result in more women in professions such as engineering.

University World News spoke to Manda about gender dynamics in engineering in her country, and what it means to be the first woman there to hold a PhD in mining engineering.

Read more at: https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20241103134302797