ONE FOR THE GIRLS | MENTORING IN STEM

Girls remain underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Mentoring is an effective tool in sparking and sustaining girls’ interest in STEM courses. Dr Tabitha Amollo mentor girls in STEM at Egerton University and in her community.

For her mentoring initiative, she works towards promoting girls’ education through various avenues including linking girls to STEM-related networking events, searching for and communicating scholarship opportunities to talented girls and offering guidance and counselling. She also conducts advisory sessions for women in STEM at both undergraduate and post graduate levels. Among her achievement in this line are two MSc in physics female students who she mentored to win Marie-Curie (MSCFP) scholarships, her mentee PhD student who organised a successful Biophysical Society (BPS) conference and formed BPS Egerton University chapter.

Through Dr Amollo’s networks, her mentees participated in the “Light sources meet their responsibility – Out-reach to and inclusion of Africa” at HZB, Germany. Furthermore, she uses her networks to link her mentees to internship and industrial attachment opportunities. Her mentorship initiatives are not just confined to Egerton university but extends to girls in high school as well as women in the community.

Dr Amollo is a role model to female colleagues in the Department of Physics. What stands out for her as a mentor is the realisation that girls when guided and motivated achieve better results than their male counterparts in STEM.

Heidi Sonnekus | FAR-LeaF Program