Malawian Women In Science you should know
If you think this is another post blowing the trumpet of Malawian women in science on International Women’s Day (IWD) then you are absolutely right. I cannot think of a better way to highlight the day than with a celebration of remarkable women who have made strides in science. This article is the first of 3 planned series of articles about Malawian women in science whose profiles I would like to share in the coming months, beginning today. A couple of days ago I asked my followers on Twitter to mention Malawian women scientists who they feel every Malawian girl should know about and the response was immense. Both familiar and unfamiliar names were mentioned. Albeit too late, I tried to get in contact with some of them in time for IWD. I figured that I could use this my stale blog to highlight profiles of these exceptional women but specifically those I was sure most people have not heard of before.
According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, globally, only around 30 per cent of all female students select science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related fields in higher education and female students’ enrolment is particularly low in ICT (3 per cent), natural science, mathematics and statistics (5 per cent) and 8 per cent in engineering. Like much of the world, Malawi as a country is yet to achieve gender parity for science researchers. As of 2013, Malawian women comprised less than 20 per cent of professionals in the sciences and yet women are indispensable contributors to developing science-based solutions that can enhance and foster economic growth that stands to benefit society as a whole. It is indisputable that as a country we still have a long way to go. Be as it may, through my random tweet, I learnt that there are many Malawian women scientists that many people (including me) have never heard of, which made me question myself: What can I do to make sure Malawians, and the rest of the world, know about them, too? I told myself I would start and continue to bring out the stories of these role models. Hence this article. I contacted several individuals on short notice and I am grateful to these fantastic SHEroes for making time to write their experiences in time for #IWD2020. Now, let’s jump right into it, shall we?
- Dr Elizabeth Bandason
Kicking off the list is Dr Elizabeth Bandason, an Entomologist (insect sciences) working with LUANAR, whose work focuses on targeting insect sense of smell to control insects without intensive use of insecticide sprays. But how did she become an Entomologist? She studied for a Bachelor of Education Science Degree, majoring in Biology specifically Entomology at the University of Malawi, Chancellor College. She immediately enrolled for a Masters in Environmental Sciences at the same college, focusing on ecological changes in the breeding sites of blackflies. She was immediately employed as a Lecturer in Entomology at Bunda College (now LUANAR) after completion of her master’s degree. Being a lecturer at LUANAR opened up opportunities for Elizabeth as whilst there, she was awarded a fellowship in African Women in Agricultural Sciences (AWARD). She recalls how this and her secondment by DOW AgroSciences company, a pesticide manufacturing company in the U.S., made her realize that as a woman scientist, she could do anything as long as she was focused. Whilst at DOW, she was was selected to participate in Mentoring a Young Woman Scientist initiative, under the AWARD program. Owing to her continued excellence, a year later she was offered a PhD scholarship to study Entomology at Michigan State University but now she studied insect brains! Exciting! Upon completing her PhD she was offered an OWSD early career Fellowship, under which she is mentoring four young scientists at LUANAR. She is also a Research Capacity Development Fellow under Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, where she is also heavily involved in mentorship.
She recalls how she was intimidated by seniors in her first year in college about the first combination of courses in the Faculty of Science, or what was then popularly known as the first combi (a combination of Biology, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry courses in the first year). If you have been through the corridors of Chancellor College you know a lot of girls who switched courses to evade the first combi because of all the ‘ wa first combi amawida (the first combination will get you withdrawn)’ sentiments. But that did not stop Elizabeth. And neither should any intimidation you face as a woman either in school or work stop you. So what advice does this phenomenal woman have for young trailblazers? “Don’t embrace fear, embrace the unfamiliar. It’s okay to go on a path no one has walked, even if it looks bushy and scary, walk there and leave a trail. Do not entertain mediocrity, be patient, persevere, and be consistent. Don’t think small, you can do anything.”…And I couldn’t agree more!
2. Dr Mwawi Nyirenda
I remember Dr Nyirenda from my uni days at Chancellor college. She was in her final year of her Education Science Bsc when I began my first year in 2007. She majored in mathematics. I recall that she used to mark our MAT 100 assignments (we shall not go into how many marks I used to get,thanks 😊). She joined the Mathematics department as a staff associate and later lecturer in Mathematics. During this time she also proceeded to study for Masters in Information Theory, Coding and Cryptography at Mzuzu University from 2008–2010. A couple of years later she went on to do her PhD in Information Security at Royal Holloway University of London under the Schlumberger Faculty for the Future Scholar initiative, a foundation that provides funding for the most talented female scientists, from emerging economies to advance PhD and postdoctoral studies in STEM fields and to provide them a unique opportunity to develop their skills. She is currently the head of the Mathematics department at Chancellor College. She mentions that she has had several girls tell her that she motivated them to pursue careers in Math, Statistics and Computer science. I think we can all imagine how satisfying that must feel!
3. Sophie Sinyeka Banya
Another mathematician on the list. If you know me very well, this should not surprise you.
Sophie Sinyeka Banya, is a Bachelor of Science, Mathematical Science Education graduate of the University of Malawi, The Polytechnic. Having graduated with a credit, she took up her first job as a teacher in Mathematics and Statistics at Kalibu Academy High school, after which she left to pursue a Master of Science in Information Theory, Coding and Cryptography at Mzuzu University. While there, she also taught Statistics in the Department of Mathematics. After graduating with a Master of Science degree she joined the Catholic University of Malawi as a lecturer in mathematics and was, shortly afterwards, appointed Head of Mathematical Sciences Department for four years. Currently, she is a Mathematics lecturer with The Polytechnic, and she’s on course to obtaining her second master’s degree in Public Health at the University of Malawi, College of Medicine.
Sophie says as a young girl she was not certain of what she wanted to become in life, except she knew it had to be science — specifically mathematics. “Math was fun and rewarding to me and I knew there would be good odds that it would be relevant to whatever path I ended up choosing. I loved solving”…If you frowned whenever you had to head to a math class like me you can’t relate to this. She continues to advise young women/girls who intend to pursue a career in STEM to go ahead, that gone are the days to believe that STEM fields are for men.
“Stop underestimating yourself,” she says. “Do not give room to anyone to underestimate you. Aim higher always, surround yourself with excellence and be around people who can intellectually challenge you.” Could anyone say it better? I think not!
4. Dr Elasma Milanzi
This one is very close to home…wait, it is in the household because this is actually my sister and she inspired and paved way for me to get where I am today. Literally! (I think she doesn’t know this).
Elasma completed her Bachelor of Science degree in 2005 from University of Malawi, Chancellor College with majors in Statistics and Mathematics which she obtained with a distinction. She was briefly appointed as a lecturer in Statistics at The Polytechnic in 2006. In the same year, she obtained a scholarship to do a masters degree in Biostatistics at Hasselt University in Belgium under the VLIR-OUS scholarship, a Belgian government initiative, which she also completed with a distinction. Naturally, she proceeded to do a PhD in Mathematical Sciences at the same university which she completed by the time she was 30. She completed a couple of years of postdoctoral research in Belgium after which she moved to Australia where she is currently working as a Biostatistician at the Melbourne School Population of Health under University of Melbourne. She also works with postgraduate students from the College of Medicine in Malawi helping them to analyze research data. Her simple advice to young women/ girls intending to pursue science is: “Everyone has their strength, search for yours because that is the important weapon in achieving your goals since it is not everyone who is academically gifted. Never underestimate yourself, what you set out to do, you can achieve if you put your mind to it”. This still rings in my head because she has repeatedly instilled this in me for the longest time and I couldn’t ask for a better role model.
I plan to profile many more Malawian women scientists and in different ranges of fields of STEM. I have reached out to a number of them and I hope to reach out to many more. So if this post made you think of an outstanding Malawian woman scientist you feel a lot of Malawians do not know about, contact me on my twitter, or simply let me know in the comments below.
If you noticed, I didn’t ask these women to discuss their experience of juggling their accomplishments and motherhood or related (expected) gender roles. I shall not do that here for obvious reasons!
11 February was the specific day for International Day of Women and Girls in Science. I could have written this then but I can also write this today, or frankly any day because we need to celebrate these women as often as we can. As women, when we celebrate our achievements, we are made to feel we are overdoing it. But I say shine! raise that volume, if anyone feels it is too loud, let them leave the room. I have included hyperlinks to scholarships and opportunities that these women made use of to advance their careers. We should learn and be inspired by other women’s success, we are unstoppable as we root for each other. It is my hope that we can eventually populate a list of Malawian women in Science and have them all in one place.
Happy International Women’s Day!! Here’s to ordinary women doing extraordinary things.
