The Women in Mathematics Seminar was organised by Prof. Paranjothi Pillay, an associate professor in the UWC’s Mathematics & Applied Mathematics Department. The seminar took place on the 29 August 2024 and was hosted in the backdrop of National Women’s Month. It featured two phenomenal women mathematicians – Dr Rejoyce Gavhi-Molefe, the Manager of the House of Science, and Dr Elham Medhi-Nzehad, Senior Lecturer at UWC.
Dr Elham Medhi-Nzehad’s talk focused on her research titled An Example of an Unfair Sequential Game of Perfect Information: A Game-Theoretic Comparison Between the EN-Gammon and The Standard Backgammon. Dr. Gavhi-Molefe’s talk was titled Solving Gender Equality in Mathematics: Challenges, Empowering Opportunities & Inspiration.
As an academic and researcher, Rejoyce highlighted mathematics challenges in the South African academic landscape. To inspire the audience, she focused on exemplifying the challenges and transformation through her personal and professional journey, grounded in that South African challenging trajectory across inequality dimensions. Dr. Gavhi-Molefe discussed her latest research on subdivision algorithms and its pivotal role in animated movie productions. She ended her talk by encouraging students to never give up on their dreams. She further emphasized the importance of addressing gender inequality in mathematical sciences and the need to recognise that it (gender) is not just about women.
“Gender equality is about women and men. We all have a role to play at the individual and institutional levels. Let’s continue the conversation beyond this event and Women’s Month and take action even on a small scale.” said Dr Gavhi-Molefe.
Dr Gavhi-Molefe also posed a few questions to the audience about their hopes and wishes for gender equality in STEM in the next 30 years in South Africa during the subsequent discussions.
The event included a networking session where women from AIMS and UWC interacted.
“The event was very good. The Mathematics Department welcomed us warmly. Dr. Rejoyce encouraged me with her story by telling us that it is possible to come from a different background and still pursue a career in Mathematics. Her story was very inspiring to me.” – Annette Mboudjiho.
“My wish is to have more women’s representation in postgraduate studies in Mathematics & Applied Mathematics.” – UWC Honours Male Student.
“My wish as a woman in math is for it to start from the bottom to the top. As young kids, we don’t always know our potential, but teachers and elders are the ones who can point it out in us. They can encourage us and say, ‘You can do it.’ In the past, most math teachers were predominantly male, and they were the ones who inspired us. There weren’t many female role models. I would like to call on men to now stand up and recognize the potential in little girls.” – UWC Honours Female Student.
“It was very inspiring to see the women in the field working on different things. That talk resonated with me personally because I play a lot of Backgammon. It was nice to see the research of other women in Mathematics. Additionally, there was a very inspiring talk that moved me, highlighting both the challenges and the empowerment we can experience as we all contribute to addressing gender inequality.” – AIMS South Africa Tutor: Mina Monadjem
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