Constraints to African Women’s Participation in Science, Technology & Innovation

It is believed that science and technology plays important role in the development of a country. Studies have also shown that countries who invested in science and technology have gained success in improving the lives of their citizens. Unfortunately women participation in STI is low. The paper focuses on the constraints to women participation in science, technology and innovation (STI) development and was developed on the promise that women participation in STI is low due to socio-cultural, economic, educational and legal barriers to women in Africa. The paper discussed the obstacles and barriers to women active participation in STI development and contends that the African women are faced with a lot of constraints and impediments that restrains them from participating actively in STI development. The paper reports among others that women participation in STI development cannot be equated to that of their male counterpart due to some obvious factors. Despite the obstacles the paper concluded by recommending some solutions to various problems which militate against women active participation in STI development in Africa. These include among others: improving women education standard, training women on entrepreneurial skills acquisition and support services policy level intervention and enhancing women self image.