Mawazo Co-sponsors a Girls in STEM Career Day
Mawazo CEO, Dr. Rose M. Mutiso, on stage with a few of the girls who attended our Career Day.
Author: Naliaka Odera
“You don’t have to like STEM,” began Mawazo Institute CEO Dr. Rose M. Mutiso speaking to a group of young school girls during the 2019 Africa Science Week-Kenya Girls in STEM Career Day. “But we all have broad interests and talents. Whoever you are, I would like to urge you to broaden your skillset.” The students, numbering over 60, were gathered from schools around Nairobi, some of them from disadvantaged backgrounds, for a Career Day where they would meet women mentors working in various science careers, attend fun learning sessions run by the African Maths Initiative, and be inspired and encouraged to dream big.
The keynote speaker for the Career Day was Dr. Damaris Parsitau, a lecturer at Egerton University and the Executive Director of Let Masaai Girls Learn Foundation, an organisation dedicated to empowering young Masaai girls to complete their education. Dr. Damaris herself is a Masaai girl from a small town who defied the odds and became the first Masaai woman in her county to earn a PhD degree. During her inspirational and impassioned speech to the girls, she compared her own life story to theirs. “If I can make it as a Maasai girl, I don’t know why you can’t.” She encouraged the girls, “to be a professor, to be a physicist to go to space, to treat untreatable diseases.”
As the mentors and students broke off into four smaller groups for career talks, the professionals seemed eager to impart as much wisdom and life advice as possible. The students were encouraged to choose their own groups according to their personal interests and future plans.
The Health and Society group led by Mawazo’s digital media and public engagement consultant Kari Mugo, was made up of Damaris, Elidy Wangechi, Public Affairs Manager at Nestle East & Southern Africa Region, and Dr. Angela Muoki who is a Plastic and Reconstruction surgeon. Elaine Mungai, Mawazo’s Programme Manager led the Business Administration group which was comprised of Juliet Munyi, a Customer Success Manager at Oracle, Martha Githui-Bett, Senior Program Manager at Safaricom Innovation and Victoria Otieno, a Compliance Officer at Barclays Bank. Both groups emphasised the importance of being flexible in your career choices. Martha Githui-Bett encouraged, “It is ok for your interests to change.” Most of the students’ questions were aspirational, about what happens after high school. Damaris repeated the sentiments that she had shared during her opening speech, that “all girls are limitless.”
In the two more scientifically themed groups, the students’ questions were more tangibly linked to career paths within the sciences. Again, the mentors emphasised how much time the students had to decide on their futures. Some encouraged a more deliberate and intentional approach to narrowing down their focus by eliminating jobs that held no interest to them after talking to people who worked in those professions. Mawazo’s Operations Manager Ashley Muthaka led the Tech and Innovation group which included Hilda Muthoni, a Digital Transformations and Innovations Architect at Oracle, Hadassah Vui Mombo, a lawyer in Specialist-Innovation Support, in the Business Development Division at Safaricom, and Joyce Wamwea, a Data Scientist at Safaricom. Finally, the Math and Engineering group was led by Mawazo’s Dr. Rose, a polymer scientist herself, and included Marilyn Ronoh, a Mawazo Scholar and Math PhD candidate, Caroline Gitonga the Principal Solution Engineer at Oracle, Christine Laetitia, and Yvonne Ochieng, from African Maths Initiative. Marilyn Ronoh gave constructive advice on university courses to take when pursuing STEM fields and the vast and varied options that exist within mathematics, her focus.
Focus seemed to be the most important value that all the mentors wanted to impart. At the beginning of the day, Dr. Rose said, “If you are focused about what you do, that can really take you far. You can do really well with that.” The African Maths Initiative team, led by Zach Mbasu, continued that messaging by introducing fun and interactive maths lessons to the students. The use of tablets, laptops, and props made the sessions enjoyable for the girls, effectively opening their minds to new possibilities within mathematics. Many of the girls who came from disadvantaged backgrounds may never have experienced learning of any kind in this way and the ability to participate in the Maths Activation sessions could have far-reaching consequences in their learning and education.
“I want to encourage you this morning to sit down and soak in everything that is said today,” Dr. Damaris advised at the beginning of the day. “I want you all to understand that no girls are limited.” By participating in the maths sessions, interacting with female mentors who have succeeded in such varied fields and hearing Dr. Damaris’ story, the possibilities open to the girls began to seem endless.
* The Girls in STEM Career Day took place as part of the 2019 Africa Science Week -Kenya organized by Next Einstein Forum Ambassador, Dr. Rose M. Mutiso with the Mawazo Institute and Riara University as event co-sponsors.
