Dynamic, purposeful and female.
The gender profile of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) at Stellenbosch University (SU) has changed considerably over the years. A substantial percentage of women find themselves in senior research positions or are apparently unstoppably on their way to the top of the ladder.
Amongst the many achievers are eight women who are regarded as top researchers with a Scopus h-index exceeding 25. In addition four of the five SARChI chairs at the FMHS are occupied by women, six women head research institutions and more than half of all postdoctoral fellows are female.
And yet, says Prof Marietjie de Villiers, of the Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care, women in research face specific challenges. “One of these is to continuously promote your career while you have children. You have to be in the laboratory full-time from the beginning and you have to start publishing. You are ultimately judged as a researcher according to your publication record."
Prof Nulda Beyers, former director of the Desmond Tutu TB Centre, also holds strong views about this. “Men and women should argue together for the right to bring children to work. This should be seen as a family or child right and not only a woman's right."
Prof Eileen Hoal of the Division Molecular Biology and Human Genetics adds her support. “The situation for women is definitely better than it used to be during the last century, but we certainly can't rest on our laurels. At this point all the SU faculties are equally guilty of not providing any childcare facilities and only recently established a breast feeding room."
What do some of the young female achievers have to say about their achievements and the glass ceiling issue?
Dr Stefanie Malan-Müller is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry.
She obtained her PhD with a psychiatric genetic study in which gene expression and epigenetics were investigated on a multiomics level to determine the way in which the original anti-tubercolosis medication, D-cycloserine, helps with anxiety reduction in an animal model of posttraumatic stress. It has been investigated in humans and applied successfully in the treatment of several anxiety disorders, but its mechanism on a molecular level has not yet been precisely determined. She found that it mostly brough about an anti-inflammatory effect in the brain and also regulated genes involved in learning and memory processes.
For her postdoctoral research, Malan-Müller is focussing on a sub-project of the Shared Roots flagship project of the Medical Research Council (MRC), in which the gut microbiome of PTSD patients and controls are studied to determine whether there are differences in their gut microbes that could play a role in disease. They have recently published their findings in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine. She and her supervisors, Profs Sian Hemmings and Soraya Seedat, are in the process of setting up a national initiative which will investigate the gut microbiome in neuroscience.
She has published 13 articles and one book chapter during her time at the FMHS. “One day, I would like to oversee a postgraduate student research group as a senior researcher."
Regarding the glass ceiling, she is of the opinion that women in her field – even when she looks beyond the FMHS – are in an advantaged position overall, since some bursaries exist for which only they can apply. “There is a concerted effort to provide opportunities for women. I believe one must be pro-active, grasp opportunities and make things happen. However, I feel that funding opportunities for postdoctoral fellows seem to be diminishing, which is a cause for concern, but it also forces us to be creative in our quest to secure research funding."
Malan-Müller admires her study leaders: the “formidable" Seedat – head of the Psychiatry Department – and the dedicated Hemmings.
Ms Lieketseng Ned is a lecturer at the Centre for Rehabilitation Studies and a PhD student in the Department of Global Health.
"As we commemorate the 1956 march of approximately 20 000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on this Women's Day, and as an emerging researcher, I cannot help but reflect on the status of women in different spaces of society – including the academic space which I am in.
"I acknowledge the enormous strides that have supported the emancipation of women in various forms, with more funding opportunities prioritising women and more roles in academia being filled by women now. This supportive environment at work has enabled me to access opportunities for both personal and professional development, for funding and the opportunity to get my voice out there to contribute to the development and strengthening of disability and rehabilitation as a field."
According to Ned her tangible goals and achievements include embarking on a PhD degree at SU, that focuses on the potential relevance of indigenous knowledges within the current education system “to contribute to the health and well-being of my people – the indigenous people in rural areas. This focus means a lot to me as a young rural woman who values indigenous communities and their knowledge."
Ned says she was fortunate to be afforded an NRF Thuthuka Grant for her PhD. "Through this funding I have been enabled to support two women in the form of bursaries to pursue their postgraduate studies in disability and rehabilitation. Additionally, the different funding opportunities targeting young women within the faculty have helped to cover any additional costs for the PhD. For instance, for the past 2 years I have been a beneficiary of the Early Research Career funding, that has enabled me to collaborate with two young women as research assistants for my PhD – one assisted with data collection and the other with transcribing and translating the interviews. This for me has been meaningful in the cause of ensuring that women support and empower one another in a society that is male dominated. This is particularly important as a black woman, given the multiple forms of struggles we face in a white dominated space."
She says her interests in the academic space include the creation of opportunities for more women (black, rural, disabled) to enter the spaces of theorising about disability and start linking disability studies to blackness studies.
“We need more people who are insiders, who live this experience of the link between disability and poverty, to start researching and theorising about disability and rehabilitation – not people who claim expertise in the field without any experience whatsoever. These 'experts' simply consume knowledge from marginalised communities. This would really open up spaces for black women as part of the transformation agenda.
“These issues should be prioritised to enable a differently framed narrative whereby women's issues are not only a sudden wave in August, but reflect throughout in the type of projects and responsibilities women engage in."
According to Ned it has been an inspiration and an encouraging journey to witness and be mentored and surrounded by other black women like Associate Professors Gubela Mji and Elelwani Ramugondo (her PhD supervisors). “It demonstrates the change that is happening and gives a voice to me as a younger emerging academic.
“I am certain that this powerful effect remains true for other students of colour who are able to see diverse representation in their lectures and thus feel encouraged and affirmed in their beingness and becoming."
Dr Celeste Naude is a senior researcher at the Centre for Evidence-based Health Care (CEBHC).
“As an African researcher, I want to ask relevant, priority research questions in the field of public health nutrition and then work towards answering these questions, using high-quality research methods. My hope is that these answers can help empower decision-makers with the knowledge they need to make better decisions that counter inequality and improve people's lives in a sustainable way.
"I have been fortunate to not have encountered or experienced the 'glass ceiling' for women in my career thus far. On the contrary, I feel that I have been well supported and granted many opportunities to develop myself and my career. I have tried to make as much as possible of the many opportunities that have come my way, with support and leadership from mentors and senior management. I have managed to continue to build from one opportunity to the next."
She completed her master's degree in nutrition (cum laude) in two years and her PhD (nutritional sciences) in three years, and was then appointed as a senior researcher. Her academic interests and experience include health and nutrition evidence synthesis, knowledge translation and evidence-informed decision-making in policy and practice for nutrition and health sciences.
In 2012, she received the MRC's Career Development Award. Two years later she presented the prestigious ARP Walker Memorial Lecture at the biennial National Nutrition Congress. She enjoys working closely with many other women in national and provincial government departments, and supporting strategies to promote the use of evidence in decision-making.
In 2015, she was invited to be one of the associate editors of the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group, based in Oxford, and serves as a member of the Ministerial Committee on Mortality and Morbidity in Children. She is Co-Director of Cochrane Nutrition, established in 2016 and jointly hosted by the CEBHC. She currently serves as a Cochrane Fields Executive Co-chair, and a member of the Cochrane Council.
In 2016 and 2017 she was involved in the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation's Working Group to develop implementation resources for national food-based dietary guidelines and as a researcher in the Bridge Collaborative.
The former American First Lady, Mrs Michelle Obama, is one of the women she admires for starting the Lets Move inititiative, which is dedicated to solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation. Other role models include Ms Thuli Madonsela (former Public Protector) and women who promote conservation, like the late Dr Wangari Maathai and her Green Belt Movement.
Onderskrif: Dr Stefanie Malan-Müller, ms Lieketseng Ned and Dr Celeste Naude.
Photos: Stefen Els
