Prof. C. O. Ijagbemi
REPORT OF THE CAREER TALK HELD AT CELESTIAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL, AKURE ON THURSDAY, 3RD MAY 2018 BY THE CENTRE FOR GENDER ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (CEGIST), FUTA
As part of its mission to promote gender equality in science and technology within and outside the University community, the Centre for Gender Issues in Science and Technology (CEGIST) of the Federal University of Technology, Akure has embarked on a sensitization visit to Celestial Grammar School, Akure. The visit took place on Thursday, 3rd May, 2018 at about 11:30 am. The aim of the visit was to encourage young female students to embrace careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) which were hitherto thought to be male-only disciplines. The following members of FUTA staff participated in the programme.
Some members of staff of Celestial Grammar School, Akure (namely, Mrs. Olumuyiwa, Mrs. Ogunlade and a few others) were also present.
The programme started at about 11:35 am with introduction of the team of facilitators from CEGIST led by the Associate Director of the Centre, Prof. (Mrs.) O. S. Omoba who also doubled as the representative of the Director of CEGIST, Prof. (Mrs.) Tinuola T. Adebolu. The introduction was immediately followed by an opening prayer.
Prof. Omoba, on behalf of the Director of CEGIST, presented a career talk titled, “STEM: Where are the Girls?” She highlighted the importance of STEM education for girls and decried the wide gender gap that exists in STEM related fields. She advised the young female students to disregard the myths in the pursuit of STEM careers as that could prevent them from fulfilling their academic potentials and achieving excellence in life. She noted that men and women have equal opportunities to succeed in any field of endeavour and therefore urged the girls not to succumb to any unfounded societal stereotypes regarding their gender.
To further inspire the students, they were shown video clips of four Nigerian High School girls (aged 14 - 15) who invented the award-winning urine-powered electricity generator exhibited at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) at Phoenix, USA.
The presentation lasted for about 40 minutes. The students sat quietly and listened with perceivable enthusiasm.
The students were given the opportunity to ask questions and bare their minds on the topic. Most of their questions centred around the primordial cultural sentiments surrounding gender equality as well as the widely held belief that career women are not likely to have peaceful homes. The scholar, Prof. O. S. Omoba, provided satisfactory answers by saying that women are no second class citizens and can therefore aspire to any height in life as their male counterparts. She also said that acquiring good educational qualification does not scare suitors as many people think. She however, warned that it is rather too early to start thinking about marriage, and hence advised the students to first and foremost concentrate on their studies.
The question-and-answer session was anchored by Mrs. Stella Chinelo who also represented the Principal of the school, Mrs. Y. M. Abidoye.
The career talk was brought to a close with vote of thanks from the management and students of Celestial Grammar School, Akure. Speaking on behalf of the Principal, Mrs. Stella Chinelo thanked the Director of CEGIST and her team for the timely enlightenment. She urged the students to take advantage of the visit to do the school and their families proud.
There was a closing prayer followed by taking of group photographs. The team received light refreshment.
REPORT ON THE CAREER TALK HELD AT UNITED CAC HIGH SCHOOL, AULE ROAD, AKURE ON FRIDAY, 10TH MAY 2019
Preamble
It is part of the mandates of the Centre for Gender Issues in Science and Technology (CEGIST) of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education among secondary school girls. It is in the light of this that CEGIST/FUTA launched out with the Seminar titled: “STEM: Where are the girls?” at United CAC High School, Aule Road, Akure, on the 10th of May, 2019. On the list of the CEGIST/FUTA team that went for the programme were:
Objectives of the Seminar
The seminar was designed to:
Opening Introduction of members of the CEGIST/FUTA team was done by Prof. (Mrs) O. S. Omoba (Associate Director, CEGIST). She also presented the seminar on behalf of the Director.
The Seminar presentation
CEGIST Associate Director, Prof. (Mrs) O. S. Omoba, took over the stage at 9:00am for the seminar presentation. The power-point presentation was in two parts.
Part 1: A Seminar Presentation with the title, “STEM: Where are the girls?” The title was broken down to subtitles as listed below:
Part 2: Girls were challenged by showing them some Nigerian teen girls who made the country proud by their innovations, these were:
i. Four Nigerian teenage girls from of Doregos Private Academy, Ipaja, in Lagos that invented a urine-powered generator which was exhibited at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held in Phoenix, USA
ii. Five school girls from Regina Pacies Secondary School Onitsha that won the Gold Medal in the World Technovation Challenge in the Silicon Valley, San Francisco, USA. They won the challenge by inventing a mobile application called the FD-Detector which they developed to help tackle the Challenge of fake pharmaceutical products in Nigeria.
Examples of girls from other African countries making world better with the knowledge of STEM were also cited such as: Three St Thomas Girls Secondary school in Kilifi, Kenya, that invented Improvised Explosive Detector (IED) vehicle capable of detecting IEDs lying 5.6Km away.
Observation
The students paid rapt attention at the Seminar and there was a question by one of the students at the end of the Seminar presentation. The student’s question was satisfactorily attended to by the Resource Person.
Vote of thanks
At the end of the whole programme, a student of the institution, on behalf of the management and the entire students, expressed profound gratitude to the FUTA’s Vice Chancellor, Director of CEGIST, the Resource Person and her team for the enlightenment, challenge and encouragement the Seminar afforded them to pursue promising life career in STEM related fields.
REPORT ON THE CAREER TALK HELD AT ST. DOMINIC SECONDARY SCHOOL, OKUTA-ELERINLA, AKURE THURSDAY, 6TH JUNE 2019
Preamble
It is part of the mandates of the Centre for Gender Issues in Science and Technology (CEGIST) of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education among secondary school girls. It is in the light of this that CEGIST/FUTA launched out with the Seminar titled: “STEM: Where are the girls?” at St. Dominic Secondary School, Okuta-Elerinla, Akure, on the 6th of June, 2019. On the list of the CEGIST/FUTA team that went for the programme were:
Objectives of the Seminar
The seminar was designed to:
Opening Introduction of members of the CEGIST/FUTA team was done by Prof. (Mrs) O. S. Omoba (Associate Director, CEGIST). She also presented the seminar on behalf of the Director.
The Seminar presentation
CEGIST Associate Director, Prof. (Mrs) O. S. Omoba, took over the stage at 8:00am for the seminar presentation. The power-point presentation was in two parts.
Part 1: A Seminar Presentation with the title, “STEM: Where are the girls?” The title was broken down to subtitles as listed below:
Part 2: Girls were challenged by showing them some Nigerian teen girls who made the country proud by their innovations, these were:
i. Four Nigerian teenage girls from of Doregos Private Academy, Ipaja, in Lagos that invented a urine-powered generator which was exhibited at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held in Phoenix, USA
ii. Five school girls from Regina Pacies Secondary School Onitsha that won the Gold Medal in the World Technovation Challenge in the Silicon Valley, San Francisco, USA. They won the challenge by inventing a mobile application called the FD-Detector which they developed to help tackle the Challenge of fake pharmaceutical products in Nigeria.
Examples of girls from other African countries making world better with the knowledge of STEM were also cited such as: Three St Thomas Girls Secondary school in Kilifi, Kenya, that invented Improvised Explosive Detector (IED) vehicle capable of detecting IEDs lying 5.6Km away.
Observation
The students paid rapt attention at the Seminar and there was a question by one of the students at the end of the Seminar presentation. The student’s question was satisfactorily attended to by the Resource Person.
Vote of thanks
At the end of the whole programme, a student of the institution, on behalf of the management and the entire students, expressed profound gratitude to the FUTA’s Vice Chancellor, Director of CEGIST, the Resource Person and her team for the enlightenment, challenge and encouragement the Seminar afforded them to pursue promising life career in STEM related fields.
