Good practices in gender mainstreaming in science at the women’s university in Africa, Zimbabwe

In order to learn from and share good practices, this article analyses the experiences of Women’s University in Africa (WUA), and its success stories in reducing or removing structural barriers to women’s and other underrepresented groups’ participation in science. With funding from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) we set to establish WUA’s good practices in gender mainstreaming in science. Data were gathered through a desk study of pertinent reports and University regulations, key informant interviews with important staff members, a gender audit questionnaire, and focus group discussions with students. The study found that the University has a policy of a female: male student ratio of 85%:15%. However, is not yet fully reflected in science, calling for interventions specifically targeted at increasing the uptake of science by female students. As a way of mainstreaming gender, the University adopted flexible study methods, such as face-to-face and open-distance learning among others.