TOWARDS THE DESIGN OF GENDER SOCIAL PROGRAMMES IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: THE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME AT THE UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG

Science and technology have gained increased prominence on the international political agenda due to its impact on sustainable development and democracy. At the 2005 World Summit the United Nations Millennium Development Goals were confirmed and goal three is the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women across the globe by 2015. The attraction, education and retention of women in science, engineering and technology are paramount to the socio-economic development of all countries; and in recent years several social programmes have been launched in Sub-Saharan Africa to promote women’s participation in higher education and industry. The programmes include the Women in Engineering and the Built Environment Programme at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa; the Gender Centre at the University of Dar es Salaam and the Gender Dimension Unit at Ardhi University, both in Tanzania; the Botswana Technology Centre; and the Gender Training and Research Programme at the University of Namibia. Despite the emergence of the listed programmes the low number of Sub-Saharan women studying science, engineering and technology and working in the sector remains problematic. The objectives of this paper are to provide a theoretical basis for the design of women’s social programmes; an overview of the programme design of the Women in Engineering and the Built Environment Programme at the University of Johannesburg; and to propose a conceptual research design for formative evaluation of the programme. The findings will be used to provide guidelines for programme design and evaluation of gender social programmes specifically addressing science, engineering and technology in higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa.