ABSTRACT
The problems posed by the paucity of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers in Ghana are not different from those in other countries. Women are grossly underrepresented in science and technology, and this is more evident in the physical than the biosciences. Ghana as of 2018 had 10 public universities, 8 technical universities, 74 private universities, and over 500 senior high schools. The 2013–2015 senior secondary school enrollment of science education for girls was 44,963 (37% of the 118,645 total enrollment). The total population of female researchers in the public research institutions was 1,452, compared to the male researchers’ population of 4,121. Most of the women were in the biological and human sciences. The physical sciences continue to experience a lack of women. This study presents an overview of women in STEM with a focus on postgraduate enrollment in STEM programs at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, from 1997 to 2017. Trends show an increased enrollment in the life sciences, while engineering and mathematics-related programs still lag. Although there has been an increase in enrollment following a deliberate university policy to shore up female enrollment, the proportion of women still hovers between 25% and 35% for most programs. A linear trend model gave a good fit to total female enrollment with a highly significant trend component. A comparison of enrollment profiles for engineering, life sciences, and physical sciences by gender showed the profiles to be significantly different being neither parallel, flat, nor having equal levels across categories.
