African Mathematics Millennium Science Initiative

SELECTED CONFERENCES IN AFRICA ON MATHEMATICS AND RELATED FIELDS

THE SYMPOSIUM ON AFRICAN WOMAN AND MATHEMATICS

The Symposium on the African Woman and Mathematics was held during 29 – 30 November, 2008 at the scenic Girassol Indy Village in Maputo, Mozambique.

It was attended by participants from several continents and from all regions of Africa, as shown in the attendance list (Click Here For Attendance List)

Group photos were taken of all the participants

and also of women participants only

A photo gallery is available of various selected shots taken during the Symposium. Click here to view the photo gallery.

The guest of honour at the opening ceremony was Prof. José Joao Miguel who represented the Vice-Chancellor, and the Dean of the Faculty of Science, of Eduardo Mondlane University.

The theme of the symposium was “Mathematics Education and the African Woman” and its objectives were:

(a)To analyse and discuss the performance of African girls and women in mathematics at school level and in tertiary institutions
(b)To discuss the factors that influence the appreciation and understanding of mathematics by African girls and women
(c)To discuss the impact of women in mathematics and its applications, and in mathematics education, in schools and universities
(d)To provide exposure to research contributions by women in mathematics and its applications, and in mathematics education
(e)To provide exposure to the use and production of mathematical ideas by African women in cultural practices
(f)To suggest ways of improving education in mathematics, and its applications, for the African girl and woman.

As the Symposium programme shows (Click Here For Symposium Programme), the first day, 29th November, concentrated on mathematics education, with emphasis on issues affecting girls and women, and on the contributions and production of mathematical ideas by the African women in cultural practices. The plenary lectures covered a variety of ideas, as exemplified below:

Cherinda, Nilsa A.I.E. P.: (Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique)
The first experience of Eduardo Mondlane University on Teaching mathematics via Distance Education
El Yacoubi, Nouzha: (University Mohamed V, Morocco)
African girls and Mathematics competition
Garegae, Kgomotso Gertrude: (University of Botswana, Botswana)
Life skills-based mathematics teaching approach: being responsive to an African woman’s method of learning
Musekwa, Senelani Dorothy: (NUST, Zimbabwe)
An investigation into problems faced by the rural girl child in secondary education in Bullima district

There were also shorter presentations, one of which covered the contribution of women in Afrika Matematika and the other analysed trends in first level modules at UNISA. In addition, a number of postgraduate students made brief presentations on mathematics education and girls. The coverage ranged from their own life experience to a proposed project which examines the educational issues affecting female’s mathematics learning in the context of HIV/AIDS.

The morning session of the second day, 30th November 2008, concentrated on the contributions made by African women in mathematics. There were two plenary lectures of on-going research, namely:

Zoungrana, Patricia L.: (University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso)
On the nilradical of Lie triple algebras
Kwashira, Rugare: (University of Botswana, Botswana)
Rational homotopy groups of function spaces

In addition, a number of postgraduate students made commendable reports on their on-going research, in a variety of fields, namely, vector weighted games, mathematical modeling in malaria and HIV, HAART resistance, and examination of stability in oscillators with a time lag.

During the afternoon of the second day, namely 30th November, there was a roundtable on mathematics and the African woman co-chaired by

Prof. Nouzha El Yacoubi - Secretary general, African Mathematical Union
Prof. Wandera Ogana - AMMSI Programme Director

with the following panelists

Ms. Nana A. K. Browne - University of Cape Town
Dr. Gertrude K. Garegae - University of Botswana
Dr. Sure Mataramvura - SAMSA Secretary

and rapporteurs

Ms. Theresia Marijani - Stellenbosch University
Ms. Laura Hellen Awino - AMMSI Secretariat

The co-chairs introduced the session and the procedure for deliberations. Thereafter the three panelists each made short presentations. In the subsequent plenary discussion it was agreed that the issues to be considered should be discussed by three small discussion groups, namely:

Group 1 on “Motivation of the Girl Child”
Group 2 on “Teacher Education, Attitude and Motivation”
Group 3 on “Societal Input”

The groups then took time to deliberate before reporting back to the plenary. After receipt of reports from the small groups, the plenary deliberated and made the following observations and recommendations:

Motivation of the Girl Child

It was noted that the following factors, among others, influenced the motivation of the girl child towards mathematics and led to lack of self-esteem in the subject:
Belief that mathematics was a tough subject
Lack of role models in the area of mathematics
Early pregnancies
Cultural, economic and religious backgrounds that impeded the access of children in general, and the girl child in particular, from accessing quality education.

The following, among others, were suggested as possible ways to address the above issues:
Established women mathematicians should serve as role models to girls through giving talks in schools and universities and taking time to interact with girls in their localities on mathematics
Society and schools should strive to help the girl establish self esteem in learning
Efforts should be made to motivate the girl child and the boy child as focus on one, at the expense of the other, is a disadvantage to both;
Encouragement of girls to participate in mathematics Olympiads;
Establishment of award schemes to recognize girls who perform well in mathematics.

Teacher Education and Attitude and Motivation

It was noted that the following factors, among others, concerning teacher education and attitude, influenced the learning and appreciation of mathematics by girls:
Teacher training is deficient in that it does not adequately expose trainees to strategies on improving the mathematics education of women;
Many teachers tend to be gender biased during mathematics classes

The following, among others, were suggested as possible ways to address the above issues:
Teacher training and/or appropriate workshops should incorporate gender issues in mathematics education
Teachers should sharpen their counseling skills and be able to address the fear of mathematics by some girls
Teachers should maintain a reasonable gender equity in their examples or teaching material

Societal Input

It was noted that the following factors, among others, associated with to societal input, influenced the learning and appreciation of mathematics by girls:

Belief in many societies that mathematics is a difficult subject not meant for girls;
Poor perception of mathematics by society and ignorance;
Lack of career guidance, hence ignorance of the relevance of mathematics and the job opportunities associated with it;
Early marriage of girls in some societies;
Inaccessibility of schools hence long distances covered in search of education;
Lack of adequate support for girls whose families experience economic hardship

The following, among others, were suggested as possible ways to address the above issues attributed to societal input:

Outreach activities should be initiated to sensitize society and schools about the role of mathematics and why girls and boys required to learn it;
Scholarships should be established for basic sciences in general and mathematics in particular;
Provision of adequate educational facilities;
Sensitize society about the negative effect of early marriage.

Before the closure of the meeting, further discussion and evaluation took place in which the following observations and suggestions were made:

The Symposium was timely and it provided an opportunity for interaction of mathematicians from different regions in Africa;
The Symposium provided a good opportunity for exposure of the high caliber research in mathematics being undertaken by established African women;
The Symposium provided a good opportunity for African women postgraduate students to make participants aware of the various on-going research investigations. It also provided an opportunity for the postgraduate students to interact with each other and with their seniors from different universities;
It was strongly recommended that every effort be made to organize a similar symposium within a few years;
The small number of male presenters was noted and hence it was suggested that in future male mathematics educators be encouraged instead of them viewing such a symposium as being only for women mathematicians;
It was suggested that, as a way of promoting African women to undertake research in mathematics, professors should be encouraged to have some female postgraduate students under their supervision;
The small number of women involved in the administrative and management of aspects of the Symposium was noted. It was therefore suggested that the imbalance be corrected in future;
It was recommended that AMMSI should find a way of following up the recommendations of this meeting, at governmental and other levels.

The organizers of the Symposium gratefully acknowledge the support provided by various organizations, as indicated below:

Financial Support
The London Mathematical Society (LMS), United Kingdom
The National Academy of Sciences (Under Grant No: PGA-P280940)
International Centre for Pure and Applied Mathematics (CIMPA), Nice, France
African Mathematics Millennium Science Initiative (AMMSI)

In-kind Administrative Support
Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique

Accommodation, Meals and Conference Facilities
Girassol Indy Village, Maputo, Mozambique
TDM Conference Centre, Maputo, Mozambique

Travel Arrangements and Local Transportation
Shian Travel, Nairobi, Kenya