Prof. Marian D. Quain, the Deputy Director-General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has recommended Ghanaian families cease associating gender with academic disciplines, particularly science.
She said that remarks about certain occupations being the domain of a specific gender tended to limit individuals, especially girls, regarding their career options. It was crucial that people be free to pursue any course of study they desired.
"As a nation, we must reconsider the practice of equating an area of study with a certain gender. You shouldn't limit a man's career options by telling him that he must be a doctor or a chemist if he wants to be a nurse.
Women must work as nurses and doctors. People should feel free to choose whatever field of study they like, she suggested.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic on her new job and how the gender issue affected her career path, Prof. Quain, who was appointed to her present post earlier this year, claimed that such remarks were to blame for the current devaluation of Ghanaian women.
According to her, women and girls should not let others' disparaging remarks about the jobs they desire to pursue discourage them from following their goals.
The famous biotechnologist who specializes in tissue culture said it's important to consider the difficulties people can encounter when pursuing their job and preferable strategies to deal with them.
She gave the example of a young girl who could skip school due to menstruation and depend on a male classmate to help her make up the missed lessons. She could then become a victim of them as a result, though.
She also demanded a reexamination of student career counseling courses, arguing that some students lacked understanding about the professional choices they wished to follow and that their parents might not be able to provide the necessary help.
The famous chief research scientist in biotechnology expressed concern about the lack of efforts made by the nation to encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM subjects.
She urged the nation to return to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's vision for science, technology, and innovation as the foundation for industrialization.
"Neither cash nor attention have been set aside. We have restricted our activities to importing, using, and trading. But if we focus on STEM, it will put us as a nation on a different level, she noted.
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