June 25, 2018
By Marissa Jablonski
Shared with permission by USAID/ASHA.
I had the opportunity to make a trip to Ghana in late May to take a look at one of the universities USAID/ASHA supports. I was particularly interested in how the university was addressing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. What I discovered is nothing less than impressive.
Fifty percent of the students at Ashesi University are female-and 35% of students enrolled at their College of Engineering are female. Thirty five percent! In the U.S., it’s only 18-20%. When Jerry O’Brien and I visited the Ashesi campus just outside Accra, Ghana last month, we knew we were in a very special place. The founder, Patrick Awuah, explained that the land for building was granted to them by the local Akuapem tribe because the Chief was sold on Ashesi’s vision to educate a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial leaders in Africa, to cultivate critical thinking skills, a concern for others, and the courage it would take to transform a continent.
Ashesi is teaching their students to value the different strengths of their peers. All students in a cohort take the same classes for the first two years of their education, working together across disciplines on collaborative projects, which give them the opportunity to understand each other’s perspectives from a personal and aspirational vantage point. They break out into their respective disciplines after two years. The bond between all students during those first two years creates an environment for more well-rounded professionals and a more holistic approach to projects. Engineering students design a project and work with business majors for its marketing and advertising, so that the design incorporates community voices and reaches the customers it is intended to serve.
Solar arrays designed by electrical engineering students during summer break supply 40% of campus power.
Ashesi students have a tradition of involvement with local communities and civil society groups. They work on things such sanitation projects in the villages and have organized trash collection and flush toilets in homes, obtaining a modest contribution from the chief’s education trust fund. Part of their required graduation criteria is a seminar in service where they join a group from where the student is from and work with the community on a project, i.e., tutoring local kids, working on energy needs, etc.
Working with the world’s best universities and local and multinational employers in the region, Ashesi has pioneered an educational experience like no other in Africa. Jerry O’Brien, Deputy Director of ASHA noted that “Ashesi has taken the best of the western liberal arts education and combined it with world-class technical education grounded in the economic and social reality of West Africa.”
Bravo to Ashesi for intentionally developing collaborative, effective cross-disciplinary approaches to creating an African renaissance driven by a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial leaders.
Ashesi is inclusive. Here my colleague ASHA Deputy Director Jerry O’Brien takes a look at the accessibility ramp near the university’s main entrance.
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