These female African scientists have changed the world in various ways

Women have been responsible for some of the most important scientific revolutions that shaped the modern world.

From Marie Curie’s discoveries about radiation to Grace Hopper’s groundbreaking work on computer programming, and Barbara McClintock’s pioneering approach to genetics.

But too often their stories aren’t just about the difficulties they faced in cracking some of the toughest problems in science, but also about overcoming social and professional obstacles just because of their gender, according to The World Economic Forum. And many of those obstacles still confront women working and studying in science today.

Globally 72% of scientific researchers are men. Only one in five countries achieve what is classed as “gender parity” with women making up 45%-55% of researchers. 

According to data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), less than 30% of the world’s researchers are women, thus in this article, Face2face Africa looks at four female African scientists changing the world.