Meet Kenya’s first woman to attain a PhD in Geoinformatics

Prof Faith Karanja, Head of Department of Geospatial and Space Technology at the University of Nairobi, in her office during the interview. 
 

Photo credit: Kanyiri Wahito | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Prof Faith Karanja sits. She is the chairperson of the Department of Geospatial and Space Technology at the University of Nairobi.
  • Prof Faith Karanja sits. She is the chairperson of the Department of Geospatial and Space Technology at the University of Nairobi.
  • As a mentor under Unesco’s squad of STEM specialists, Prof Karanja has since 2014 mentored more than 3,000 secondary school girls.

A university complex stands behind Central Police Station along University Way, in Nairobi.

Inside the complex, on its right wing, is an office situated on the rear end. This is where Prof Faith Karanja sits. She is the chairperson of the Department of Geospatial and Space Technology at the University of Nairobi, where she is serving a six-year term. This is her fourth year in office.

The 52-year-old Professor in Geoinformation, is ideally running the miles to actualise this year’s theme for International Women’s Day: Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a Covid-19 World.

She is a gem in the field and she has purposed to create more masterpieces to disrupt the imbalances in the geospatial and space technology. She is not just the first female to chair the department but overall, she is the first professor in the department and the School of Engineering.

That is not all! She is the first woman to attain a doctorate in Geoinformatics in Kenya.

Truly, she has conquered the world. Now, she is using her leadership and experience to make encouraging progress towards narrowing the gender disparities in the profession.

It is from her department that architecture and engineering courses are facilitated. This places her at the core of managing the academic staff and all concerns from the students.

Only three women, including her, constitute her academic staff. The two women are the fruits of her efforts. They were recently employed, thanks to her persistent push for more women in the academic staff.

Teaching workforce

This adds to her portfolio as the first woman to open doors for more women into the department’s teaching workforce.

“They are actually tutorial fellows. They are on training and I am on their case. They have to get their highest degree,” she says.

“They are working on their PhD topics. I want to empower them. That is the way to leave a legacy,” says the scholar who finished her doctorate in Geoinformatics from University of Hannover in Germany, in 2002.

Their presence in the department, she says, could be an enticement to other girls to complete their studies in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Her strategy loops in the male factor.

“I often tell the male staff, we work as a team and we have to make a concerted effort to encourage the girls,” says Prof Karanja, married, with two sons.

Further, as a mentor under Unesco’s squad of STEM specialists, Prof Karanja has since 2014 mentored more than 3,000 secondary school girls.

Yes, she is shining light to others. But it took her much resolve to reach this far.

Only two girls in a class of 27

During her undergraduate – she studied Bachelor of Science in Surveying and Photogrammetry at University of Nairobi – she had to prove her capability.

She explains: “We were only two girls in a class of 27 and anytime we could go to the field or the lab, the boys could tell us ‘Why don’t you take the paper and write?’ So you are like your work is to just write and not do any observations.”

“I had to put my foot down and say, ’No! I’m here by my right and because I want to qualify as a geospatial engineer.”

Finding the balance between raising a family and advancing in her career was challenging but her husband, a medical doctor, stood in the gap. His moral and emotional support gave her the strength she badly needed to remain steady and focused.

A year after graduating with a Master’s degree in Surveying from University of Nairobi, she got her postgraduate scholarship to study in Germany. Then, her son was only 18 months old.

“I had to make a decision whether to go or not. But earlier on, my husband and I had jokingly discussed the possibility of me going to study abroad,” she says.

“I had told him, ‘you know I am a career person and an academician, so if I get a scholarship, remember I have to go for my studies,’ and my husband said ‘Yes! What is the problem? That is fine.”

Three-year study period

When the time came, he wilfully released her. Her heart though, ached with pain of leaving her family behind.

“The first one month was a nightmare. I could cry all the time. I could call every day, crying,” she says.

“Then one day, my husband told me ‘We are fine. But if you strongly feel you cannot hack this thing, just come back. I’d rather have a normal wife than a mad woman as a wife.”

Prof Karanja was crying while on the call but his assurance and affection consoled her, putting her into shape for a peaceful three-year study period.

“That was my waterloo moment. I changed and I concentrated on my studies. And in a record three years, I finished my PhD and came back home,” says Prof Karanja whose parents, both teachers, offered her unwavering moral support throughout her studies.

Off work, Prof Karanja is a member of the Geographic Information System (GIS) committee at the Kenya Bureau of Standards. The committee ensures all maps developed adhere to domestic and international standards.

She also serves as an examiner at the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya, and sits at the surveyors licensing institution, Land Surveyors Board, as a member.

At the international level, she is the point of contact for the Mission Idea Contest, which encourages innovations in space technology.

The contest is an establishment of University Space Engineering Consortium-Global, an international non-governmental organisation focused on space science and technology.

Any girl who wants to conquer the world now and in the future, must armour herself with two principles; letting actions do the talking and empowering oneself with skills on emotional intelligence.

“Avoid emotions. Like when I call for meetings, I am actually able to control emotions. It is a learning experience and you get stronger every day.”

Luxurious cars

Interesting, it is, how the alumni of Alliance Girls High School ended up in the geospatial world.

Back at her paternal home in Njoro, Nakuru County, there lived a neighbour who had a son who was a surveyor and worked in Nairobi.

He drove luxurious cars every time he came visiting his parents. She admired the grandeur.

She told herself: “This is the kind of life I want to live.”

“And that is how I chose this profession.”