NewAfricanWoman Issue 49 - Flipbook - Page 23
FEATURE
| WOMEN WHO INSPIRE
Meet Botswana’s
Basuti Gerty Bolo,
a rare gem in the
“male field” of
astronomy
The absence of more women in fields dominated by men is always a
relevant issue up for debate. But the dearth of African women in the
field of astronomy is utterly glaring. As we resume our series spotlighting
African women excelling in male-dominated fields, we caught up with the
mould-breaking Basuti Gerty Bolo — a Space Scientist from Botswana.
By Keletso Thobega
G
rowing up, Basuti never anticipated that
she would one day be a space scientist
doing research in the field of astronomy.
In fact, for much of her childhood, she did not
even know what astronomy is!
It was only when the time came to choose a
field of study for her tertiary education that she
would learn more about space sciences. And she
went for it. Her choice to pursue the field was a
gamble because, in conservative Botswana, it was
still unheard of (and still remains largely so) for
women to pursue studies in science fields — let
alone Space Science.
As in most parts of African communities, she
grew up in an environment where women were
routinely encouraged to choose careers in the
fields of teaching, nursing, or secretarial skills.
If you were ambitious enough, you would study
medicine.
Going against the grain
But Basuti went against the grain and chose the
road less travelled. She pursued Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
subjects in school and at tertiary level, and later
studied Space and Atmospheric Science. She then
completed a BSc Honours in Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing from the
University of Greenwich in London (United Kingdom), where she also obtained a Certificate in
Remote Sensing and Cartography.
But even with such an enviable CV, she has gone
further in her pursuit of educational excellence
in a field rarely pursued by Africans, let alone
women.
Such an inspirational journey, for a girl who initially
dismissed the thought of venturing into astronomy and space science as a mere dream and it
took a picture of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin
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March 2023 New African Woman
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