One for the girls | Mentoring in STEM

What stands out for her as a mentor is a realisation that girls, when guided and motivated, achieve better results than their male counterparts 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 mentors girls in STEM at Egerton University and 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 postgraduate levels. Among her achievements in this line are two MSc in physics female students whom she mentored to win Marie-Curie (MSCFP) scholarships, her mentee PhD student who organised a successful Biophysical Society (BPS) conference and formed the BPS Egerton University chapter. Through Dr Amollo’s networks, her mentees participated in the “Light Sources Meet their responsibility – Outreach 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 confined to Egerton University and extend to girls in high school and 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.

Dr Amollo’s mentorship initiatives are not just confined to the university but extend to girls in high school and women in the community.

Heidi Sonnekus | FAR-LeaF Program