Gender-based assessment of Science, Technology and Innovation ecosystem in Ethiopia

Abstract

The development of a country is primarily based on the progress made in science,
technology and innovation (STI), and the equitable contribution of both men and women in
the STI ecosystem. However, there is a big gender gap in the ecosystem as the participation
of women is very low in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. This
study assessed the gender dimension of science, technology and innovation eco-system in
Ethiopia. Both primary and secondary sources of data were used. The primary data were
collected from key informants, and reports of various UN agencies, Ministry of Education
(Ethiopia), Ministry of Science and Higher education (Ethiopia) and journal articles were
among the major secondary sources reviewed. The study found out that the participation
of women in the STI ecosystem was low in Ethiopia. Undergraduate female students
who were studying science and technology (Engineering and technology; natural and
computational sciences; medicine and health science; and agricultural and life sciences)
comprised 31%, 29.4%, 30.7%, 31.4%  34.4% of the student population in 2014/15,
2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19, respectively. In 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17,
2017/18 and 2018/19, the percentage of postgraduate female students in science
technology were 30.8%, 19%, 14.7%, 15%  15.6%, respectively. Among the academic
staff of higher education institutions on duty in 2017/18 academic year 19.3%, 11.2%
and 6.9% of the women were holders of first, masters/speciality  PhD/ sub-speciality
degrees in science and technology fields of study, respectively. The participation of
women in research and industry that requires higher skills were also very low.