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News | 20 December 2019

Fact Sheets on Gender in Science, Technology and Innovation in the Southern African Development Community

The GenderInSITE Regional Focal Point for Africa has produced comprehensive fact sheets on the status of gender and science in ten countries in the Southern African Development Community. The fact sheets provide information on relevant policies to gender and science, statistics on the enrolment of women and men in science degrees, the gender balance of researchers and technicians in academia, the gender balance of research and development (R&D) personnel in industry. The research is then summarised in succinct and useful takeaway points, such as for example in eSwatini, “The number of women graduates start to drop from PhD level and more on the research level”, and “Overall, women have more qualifications than men, but not in STEM fields”.

Facts such as these are invaluable for policy makers in government, academia, and industry. The end result shows clear pathways for development in these ten countries, which it is hoped will be followed by decision-makers from 2020 onwards.