Priscilla kolibea Mante

“We can do almost anything that the man is allowed to do, but, that still does not absolve us of what is considered our traditional roles. Leaving the office at 8pm, I get home and I still have to cook a meal from scratch. I had to constantly explain why getting married first was not my plan and that getting my PhD first was actually my plan. I feel that a lot of the discrimination we suffer is born out of unconscious bias – most people don’t even realise that they are discriminating against us.”

“As women, we often say that when a woman decides to have a career it is not always as easy as it would be for her male counterpart. We have been saying this to the extent that it is beginning to sound like a cliché. However, that is the truth of the matter. It is never easy for us women, especially when we grow up in very traditional societies. Right now, we are at the point where women have opportunities available to them.”

“When I started my career, I started to realise that there were a lot of things that I could have done if I had received the right guidance earlier. There are also a lot of things I would have done differently. Because of that I see myself as the person whose job it is to give younger people proper guidance. I like to open up people’s lives so that they can see what options they have in this world. The world is actually open and they are free to choose what they would like to do. They are free to try things. If it does not work out, they are free to start all over again.”

“I’m a pharmacist so one of my strengths is in chemistry, in pharmaceutical chemistry. I have developed an interest in plants as therapeutics because, as we know, a lot of the medicines that we currently have, found their source from nature, which happens to be a very rich source for new therapeutics. We do not have too many highly effective medicines that can affect conditions of the brain. So, that’s why I’m very interested in developing new therapeutics.”

“Actually, to date, 2019 has been the most exciting year for me not only personally, but also career-wise. It was a real honour to be selected for the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science award. I was introduced to all these incredible scientists and I met some pretty amazing people. To be selected for the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World early career fellowship later the same year honestly started to make me feel a bit invincible. It felt that all the good things that were happening to me were happening to me in the same year.”

“The world will make room for us. The more women push for senior roles, the harder it will be to ignore them."”

“Sometimes it’s important to hold your mentee’s hand and guide them towards opportunities they never knew existed.”