Gender (in)equality, supervision, and mentorship of women in STEM postgraduate training and careers in East Africa: A scoping review

Inequality permeates different spheres of life, including STEM training and careers. Gender interacts with other factors such as funding opportunities, recruitment, promotion and retention practices, and supervision and mentorship to affect the quality of participation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) postgraduate training. This scoping review aimed to establish the breadth of available evidence on this topic in East African universities. There is little evidence in peer-reviewed journals, whose findings highlight the interactive nature of contributing and inhibiting factors to women’s participation – emphasizing the gender stereotypes, patriarchal male-dominated workspaces, scarce resources, and lack of role models as core problems. On the other hand, we established the centrality of adequate funding and strong policies for gender equality, including equal pay, positive role modeling, supportive supervision, and mentorship as possible solutions for driving women’s excellence in STEM postgraduate training and careers. Despite current gender disparities in STEM, we found policy gaps that fail to support an elevated position of women in postgraduate training and careers in the region. We recommend the generation of more evidence on the topic and suggest targeted, evidence-based, and gender-transformative policy interventions to address the structural and societal barriers limiting women’s participation in STEM training and careers.