Women-In-Surveying Making Waves and Breaking Records in the shores of Nigeria
Angela Kesiena ETUONOVBE, Nigeria and Angela Omamuyovwi ETUONOVBE, Nigeria
The profession of surveying in Nigeria is regarded as a man’s profession because it was mainly dominated by them. Gradually some women dared to study the profession in higher institutions’ were treated with disdain as back then, it is a no area and the men were not friendly at all. Even after graduation, there is no place for them to work, so all the years spent in higher institutions of learning in the pursuit of a degree in Surveying was regarded as wasted as there are no jobs for them. This made women veered into the teaching profession or found themselves as clerks in the bank because of their mathematical background. This problem gave birth to the formation of Women-In-Surveying in Nigeria, through the back up of some strong members of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) who have soft sport for women. About 20 women started this group which is a sub-group of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) and was sponsored by the Institution. The women immediately sprang to work. Since Nigeria is very large it was shared into 3 regions – North, East and West, for easy coordination. These women went into the nook and cranny of their regions visiting higher institutions and encouraging the female student surveyors to continue with the profession. Today we have over 400 Women –in Surveying members, so many in Private Practice, a few as Surveyor Generals, and many occupying key positions in various establishment. This is not all, we now partner with the Women Affairs Ministry in the country to solicit for the girl child education, promote the study of surveying in institutions by providing scholarships as well as having career talks in secondary school, telling them what surveying is all about, its benefits and often award of scholarship to the best student for answering relevant questions. We are very strong in Nigeria and are the advocate for the surveying profession. This paper will highlight the activities of Women-In Surveying Nigeria, the problems encountered and how it was surmounted to get to its prime of place today.
Event: FIG Working Week 2020 – CANCELLED – Smart Surveyors for Land and Water Management
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