The Sunday Mail
ON February 11, the world marked International Day of Women and Girls in Science under the theme “Women Scientists at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19”. The day was set aside following a United Nations resolution with the aim to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls. In line with the theme, The Sunday Mail’s Gender and Community Editor, Fatima Bulla Musakwa interviewed Tatenda Zinyemba, a PhD fellow, who is undertaking Covid-19 research at the United Nations University-MERIT (UN-Merit) in Maastricht, Netherlands.
Q: Can you give us your brief profile?
A: I was born and raised in Harare. I went to Rusununguko Secondary School in Bromley from Form One to Four and Roosevelt High School in Harare for my A-levels. I studied Mathematics for my Bachelor’s (degree) at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. I obtained a Master’s in Economics at the University of Kansas and a Master’s in Public Affairs at Indiana University. I currently am wrapping up my PhD in Economics at United-Nations University-MERIT/Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
Q: Can you share your journey to becoming a United Nations University-Merit PhD fellow and what does it entail?
A: I learned about the institute during my internship with the Association for the Advancement of Women Economists in the US. I was able to attend conferences in Europe and Africa where I met PhD fellows and researchers/professors from UNU-MERIT. Some of these fellows and researchers were African women like myself. I had been considering PhD programmes that would facilitate my research interests in health and education in Africa. After investigating and researching possible options, I decided to apply to UNU-MERIT.
Being a full time PhD fellow/scholar is challenging in general. This is because one is trained to be an expert in a research topic of choice while fulfilling scholarship obligations such as teaching and other research projects. In order to succeed in any academic PhD programme, one has to have the endurance and curiosity to consistently work on the same topic for at least three years. It is a fulfilling and humbling process however, because there is so much to learn during this process of ‘pushing the envelope’ on a particular research topic.
Q: How long have you been working on Covid-19 research and why are you focused on that?
A: I started working on Covid-19-related research in April last year. A couple of colleagues and I decided to gather our resources to examine how Covid-19 may exacerbate gender and spatial inequalities. Using data from Ghana, we concluded that women entrepreneurs may have lower sales in the future compared to their male counterparts.
Due to lockdowns, many schools have been closed. In addition, studies have shown that women are the main caregivers within their households. Therefore, women entrepreneurs may be obligated to facilitate their children’s schooling and other family obligations at the expense of their businesses.
This is quite devastating because the informal sector significantly contributes to the livelihoods of many African families. The motivation behind this study came from the observation that there were reports related to how Covid-19 further increased gender gaps and other inequalities all over the world. However, those reports were not supported by data. This prompted the idea of this research.
Q: What are the major focus areas for this research?
A: I mainly focus on the social effects of the disease. While there are measures that are in place to combat the spread of the disease (for example lockdowns and curfews), there are social and economic ramifications that may have long-lasting effects within communities. It is important to examine and anticipate these effects.
Otherwise, there will be groups of people who are going to be much worse off than ever before. We have seen that most countries are grappling with access to vaccines and are having difficulties with combating the disease.
Adding on the emergence of new variants, the end of the pandemic may not be in sight this year at least. I focus on examining the effects of the lockdowns on issues such as nutrition, income, education and other health outcomes.
Q: Is there any way you are working in collaboration with Zimbabwean institutions on Covid-19 research or programmes?
A: Part of my research examines effects of HIV on gender gaps in Zimbabwe. I am currently exploring options to examine effects of Covid-19 on HIV-positive
women with local organisations such as Mashambanzou Care Trust and Safe Haven Trust.
Prior to the onset of the pandemic, I worked with Mashambanzou Care Trust on examining the effects of HIV on intergenerational (parent-to-child) transmission on education.
We found that low-income HIV-positive mothers face difficulties in sending their children to school compared to low-income HIV-negative mothers.
One can then imagine how difficult it is for these mothers to provide their children with meals and educational needs.
Q: Looking at the objective of the International day of Women and Girls in Science do you think women and girls have made positive strides in being involved in science?
A: While many women are more educated now than ever before, there are still much fewer women who pursue Science. This may be due to the perception that science subjects are too difficult or that science jobs are for men.
Indeed, this is terribly false. Women have the same mental capabilities as men and usually perform just as well in science subjects in primary and high school.
However, fewer women pursue science at the tertiary level mainly due to the fact that some science-related jobs may not facilitate their family life.
There have been reports of bullying, sexual harassment and general lack of understanding towards women in male-dominated (science) fields.
The culture and perception needs to change in such a way that more women perform to their fullest potential in these fields.
Women constitute more than half the population, if most of them are not performing at their fullest potential we are losing out on many societal and economic benefits.
We still have a long way to go because we don’t have a representative share of women in science.
Q: What gaps need to be attended to for girls to increase their involvement in science?
A: Gender gaps should be addressed in the home to start with. Once girls are empowered at home, they are more confident in pursuing their academic and career goals, despite the gender barriers that exist outside the home.
I urge parents to empower their girls and raise them equally as their brothers and other male counterparts.
That way, they will know that it’s their right to flourish in male-dominated spaces (such as science).
