A Lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr Frances Dufie Azumah, has emphasised that gender equality is different from feminism, hence the two should not be confused.
She explained that while gender equality looked at the relationship between the two genders, feminism tended to promote only the interest of the female.
She, therefore, called for a level playing field for both men and women in the pursuit of personal development, adding that women were not looking for anything special aside being given an equal opportunity to enable them to compete favourably with their male counterparts.
Dr Azumah was speaking at the launch of a mentorship programme dubbed “Eagle Mentorship Programme” for female students of the KNUST.
According to Dr Azumah, who is also the patron of the Women’s Commission of the Faculty of Social Sciences, there was the need to provide both sexes with a common platform “to make their own choices”.
Mentorship
The mentorship programme, which is under the auspices of the Faculty of Social Sciences, is designed to mentor the young ladies studying at the university to acquire the necessary skills to become leaders in future.
She said there was the need for women who had acquired experiences in their fields of work to pass on their knowledge to others and to train them to go beyond where they had reached.
That, she said, was the only way “we can have many more women to take up leadership positions in society.”
Under the programme, she said mentees would be matched with their mentors who would guide them as they progressed in life.
The mentorship programme would not be limited to their academic life on campus but extended to their lives and career choices.
Opportunity
The Head of Commercial Law of the Faculty of Law of the university, Dr Lydia Apori Nkansah, who chaired the programme, advised both the mentees and the mentors to take up the programme seriously as it was an opportunity for both parties to learn from each other and to grow in their respective fields.
She said mentorship could be very challenging as both the mentee and the mentor would have to be very open with each other, adding that this could make one very vulnerable.
She thus advised, especially the mentees, to uphold the oath of secrecy and not to divulge information about their mentors to their friends.
The mentors were selected from diverse fields of endeavours. They included mainly lawyers and lecturers from the university, most of who were old students.
Awards
As part of the programme, some deserving students who had excelled in their academic endeavours were presented with awards.
They were given trophies and plaques. Some lecturers were also awarded for their services to the university.
A final-year student in Economics, Miss Patricia Dameh, won the overall best student of the Faculty of Social Sciences. She also won the overall best student in Economics.
Rev. Sis Dr Eugenia Ampofoh of the Economics Department was adjudged the best lecturer in Research.
