Mentorship is key to getting more girls involved in science – Dr. Kaufmann

The academic, biomedical engineer and quiz mistress for the National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ), Dr. Elsie Kaufmann has advised successful women in science related careers to guide young girls who have developed an interest in the disciplines.

She explained that the mentoring such young girls play a vital role in their choice of career.

“Those of us who have had the opportunity to study science, and to see that it really isn’t anything mysterious should make an effort to reach out to people who may be facing this issue,” she said.

Dr Elsie Kaufmann exclusively told GhanaWeb's Barbara Esinam Bonney in an interview.

She made reference to her journey of helping young people who have an interest in science.

“That’s one of the activities I do regularly, I visit schools, I go and speak to all kinds of people to just make sure that they know that it’s possible to do science regardless of where you are coming from, and regardless of your gender. All those issues are not supposed to deter anyone from participating in science,” she mentioned.

Dr. Kaufmann also advised young girls to connect with people doing well in the field by using social media as an active tool and not wait to be discovered.

“Young people should also reach out. Even if somebody is not coming to your school to come to talk to you about it, find out about what happens and the people who are doing interesting things. These days you have social media, I know a lot of people are on Facebook, Twitter and all sorts of things. Use that opportunity to reach out to people,” she told GhanaWeb.