Female Academic Careers in Africa Workshop 2026

Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) in cooperation with the German Historical Institute Paris (GHIP), the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA), University of Ghana (UG), and the Centre marc Bloch Berlin (CMB).

Sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research in Germany and with the support of the University of Ghana

Organizing team: 

• Dr. Susann BALLER, Director (Centre Marc Bloch, Berlin)
• Prof. Grace DIABAH, Director (MIASA, University of Ghana)
• Prof.. Deborah ATOBRAH, Director (CEGENSA, University of Ghana)
• Prof. Charlotte WRIGLEY-ASANTE, Head of Department (Department of Geography, University of Ghana)
• Dr. Abena KYERE (CEGENSA, University of Ghana)
• Eleonora MARCHIONI (German Historical Institute Paris)
• Mathilde ACKERMANN (German Historical Institute Paris)

Coach: 

Naa-Aku ACQUAYE-BADDOO and Abidatu

This workshop welcomes eighteen early- and mid-career female academics, who are affiliated in the Social Sciences and Humanities with universities or research institutes in Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

The workshop offers time and space to discuss the challenges and opportunities for women in academia in African contexts. Participants from Ghana and other African countries will be accompanied by a professional coach through different modules that address the issues of (i) professional relationships within the university workplace as well as how to address conflicts at the workplace, (ii) how to deal with work-life-and social expectations balance, (iii), and how to build up an academic career with multiple challenges and constraints. Naa-Aku Acquaye-Baddoo is facilitating the workshop as a coach throughout the three days. 

The coaching aims at assisting participants to define their own working and leadership style, but also to consider how to adapt oneself to different contexts and challenges. The overarching purpose is to encourage early- and mid-career female academics to further build up their careers, to develop strategies for keeping a work-life-balance that allows for prospering in one’s academic career, and to become ready for taking up leadership positions and/or seizing other professional opportunities.

The coaching explores the “landscape” in which participants are working in, it considers how to keep balance in setting priorities and how to develop support systems in peer-coaching and through developing networks and sharing information with each other.

Part of the workshop is a public roundtable on “Beyond Representation: Strengthening Women’s Leadership and Transforming Academic Cultures in African Higher Education“ which takes place on 9 July 2026, 10:00-12:00 GMT at IAS, Nketia Hall and online. Three experienced scholars will addresses issues of leadership and how to creating an environment in which women shape institutional cultures, influence decision-making, lead research and innovation, and contribute to lasting change. In addition, the workshop includes a non-public panel discussion which focuses on selected topics related to the academic world, including publishing and AI in a context of African knowledge production transformation.

The workshop will be run in English. The roundtable will be in English and French with translation.