KNUST launches mentorship scheme for female students

kessben March 26, 2015

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The Faculty of Social Sciences at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has launched a mentorship program for female Social Science students at the University.
The Eagle Mentorship Programme will pair up female students at the University with women working in various sectors for career advice, life skills training and all-round support.
The programme, the brainchild of KNUST Social Sciences lecturer, Dr Francess Dufie Azumah, aims to equip young women with the skills and confidence to make it in the world of work.
Speaking at the event, the chairperson, Dr Lydia Apori Nkansah, Head of the Commercial Law Department at KNUST’s Faculty of Law, said: “I am very proud of what we have started here today. As a mentor and someone who has benefited from mentorship, I know how important and empowering it can be.
“I was pleased to recently share a speaking platform with one of my former mentees and students, who is now working for the Kofi Annan Foundation. This made me very proud. It shows that mentorship really works!”
The mentors and the mentees were sworn into the programme by Mariam Agyeman Gyasi Jawahary Esq, National Assistant Secretary of the Ghana Bar Association. Both sides pledged to apply themselves to the programme.
Awards for outstanding lecturers and students
The event, sponsored by the Kessben Group of Companies and Multi Credit Savings & Loans Ltd also saw awards being given to outstanding female students and lecturers.
The award for the most outstanding Social Sciences student was awarded to Dameh Patricia Mawuledey.
Presenting the awards, Dr Azumah said: “The aim of these awards and the Eagle Mentorship Programme is to empower women. Women’s empowerment is not a fight. It is not a monster. It is about uplifting women.
She added that the programme would help address deep-rooted cultural and social patterns to prepare them for the world.
“We must understand that although men and women are equal, we are not the same. Men and women are socialised differently. Boys are brought up and prepared for the world of work. Girls are brought up to look after the home. So girls need mentorship to help address the challenges they may face making this adjustment.”
Dr Azumah said the activities of the day were in line with this month’s International Women’s Day theme, ” Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity – Make it Happen”.