Women Born In The 1960s

"What I was responding to more directly was the idea of having limitations. And that's something I have come back to in my practice. There's a lot of rhetoric about freedom out there, but ultimately, most people feel more free when there are certain parameters, and I think we are really unaware of that. We are always trying to abolish parameters and abolish rules. But actually, rules can be constructive sometimes. They can catalyze creative impulses."

"Much of the movement for sustainable living is just another form of commoditization, which simply creates new levels of desire. I see many advertisements for people to get new and expensive eco-friendly products, but little of the current mentality has to do with thinking about actual needs. Do you really need a car? Do you need all the clothes? Do you need a new computer every two or three years?"

"Really good art simultaneously reveals both good and evil. It brings up complicated questions rather than proposing smug answers."

"How to interface with the public is an ongoing problem in my work. I am always looking for a function that my work can play. There has to be a reason for it."

"If you look at the larger historical evolution of architecture and domestic spaces, our homes are increasingly segregated and compartmentalized. It was the norm when I was growing up for each child to have his own bedroom. This is something that is historically quite new. I often wonder if it is the reason why it’s so difficult for adults of my generation, and those since, to cohabitate or have close interpersonal relationships. I believe that we have become so successfully individualized that it is difficult for us to live collectively."

"One of the problems that I have with the way the art world is structured is that there is this idea amongst artists that they have to wait for permission or validation. It makes no sense to me. It’s so interesting when you find artists who are making work, and who are putting it directly in the world."

"It’s good to have space to think. It’s in the empty moments when you’re the most creative."

"I am fascinated at how the things that set us free are also the same things that oppress us; you could say that the concept of the deserted island is both our greatest fantasy and our greatest fear."

"You have to learn to feel confident about the prospect of failing, because it's so inevitable."

"When you are passionate about something, your approach and input is always different."

"Don't take on a black kid from northern England and then make them do gang stories all the time [...] When I came back from maternity leave, my first 22 stories were all mother and baby stories."

"Unfortunately, we're in an era where all the guys who don't like journalists are winning the battle of convincing the general public that all journalists are one up from snakes – or actually the snakes – instead of the defenders of truth, and it really doesn't help when you have people masquerading as journalists."

"Don’t call it labour. You are trading people."

"As a country, we have a youthful nation with very high unemployment rates. The government is quickly fixing this and these private companies have hijacked this process, they take these youth to bonded labour."

"We need to participate so that if they rig, we use that as a trigger to get people on the streets and sweep the dictator away."

"This one wanted to know how much you have put into the community, which has shown your concern."

"I’d been trying for, which was more concerned with the academic performance."

"It was quite unique; different from all the scholarships."

"The ideas are gone by the time you come back. It's difficult — you have to start all over again."

"Think! You are concentrating and the power goes off! You try to use the battery, and the battery starts beeping. Then you have to close it and leave."

"The opportunity to go elsewhere to see how things are done elsewhere and to apply that knowledge in our context is very, very important. It gives you a global worldview when you go abroad to study but yes they must come back to help"

"I would also like to tell this young girl that she is not alone; sometimes we feel like we are isolated, especially on this STEM journey but no, there is support out there. There are people who have been where you are, find a mentor; someone who has been where you want to reach and can speak positively into your life."

"I like reading, a lot! I read anything, and everything. I also like listening to classical music. I find joy in catching up with my friends and classmates from all over the world."

"I also love travelling. Before the pandemic, I would get a chance, maybe once a year, to visit a place I have never been to. Even my conferences were opportunities to explore, haha."

"In 2011, I was a fellow of the International Women’s Forum Leadership program – the leadership foundation. I guess my application for this was strong because some of the activities I have done in education. This allowed me to go back to school – Harvard Business School and INSEAD, executive education programs. This was another opportunity for me to build my leadership skills and strengthen my ability to do the things I have been able to do and are still doing."

"I am also the host for a science quiz program called the National Science and Math Quiz, for secondary schools in Ghana. You will be amazed at what happens in this program, haha. So this is a month-long televised Science competition where all schools come together to find out who wins for that year. The whole country comes to a stand-still, everybody is watching because everyone is affiliated in one way or another to a school. My purpose here is to make people understand that you don’t have to be a science student to enjoy sciences. The applications of science are reachable and everywhere around us."

"Since 2017, I have been receiving all kinds of awards every year, haha. In 2017 itself I received the Impact Africa Summit award for education in Ghana; I am the Laureate for Ghana in education. It again has to do with my attitude towards promoting education in Ghana."

"In 2010 I received the best teacher award for sciences at my university – University of Ghana. This award was for the work I had done to help establish engineering plus the activities I do in my classes. Each of my classes has a course project because I want to change the narrative from just theoretical exposure in class to something more practical for my students. So my students know me for asking them to look for problems in their societies and come to class with them. They know that I don’t have all the solutions but I have a lot of experience; so if your solution is not feasible, I have the ability to point that out and give you suggestions on how to make it work."

"Haha, you know I recently got a chance to speak to a group of students who invited me to their session and my title was about sustainable success. I asked them what they considered successful. Winnie, I have received many awards and many people know me for the awards but all my awards have been received because of things I did for other people; I have never received an award for anything I have done for myself! So to me success is about your contribution to others; the sacrifices you make to make life better for others."

"I remember for the first time in a science class I had a chance to design my own experiment as opposed to following instructions from a teacher. All this was challenging to me at first but I adjusted pretty well. By the time I was leaving, my thinking was completely different from what it was when I had just joined."

"Now here I was in a class full of interactions between teachers and students. In this school critical thinking was a requirement, we were supposed to have discussions on some of the most controversial topics. I had to find ways of forming an opinion and engage in the discussions because I took the idea serious that I was representing my country! My presence there had to matter."

"The good thing is that I had been trained to be independent – one of the things I thank my parents for – so leaving home for the UK wasn’t such a challenge for me. But now adjusting to a new environment – winter time for example – was the problem. I had also been used to a certain way of teaching, you know the African way, haha! We don’t ask questions because whatever the teacher tells us is the solid truth."

"Overall, my idea has been to rise above all this! You know, once I know what my vision is, I tend to push all the negativity out of my way and keep moving forward. I choose to see my challenges as a normal part of life; something to learn from and make my way forward."

"I have also had issues with my relationship! I was married, I am now divorced. Maybe part of it is about me being too focused and doing certain things which may not necessarily be healthy for a relationship."

"There are also certain unwritten but unrealistic expectations. Like if you are a female head of department then you are expected to be motherly. So your review of whether you are doing a good job depends on your ability to be motherly in addition to doing the job described for you in your appointment letter."

"Truthfully, I have seen certain reactions because I am female. For example, a student comes to me with these amazing compliments about my work, the way I inspire them and how they are honoured to have me as their head of department. Only problem is they can’t tell their parents that their head of department is a woman! Their father will question how serious that engineering department is!"

"If you follow my path you will see that I have been a pioneer in most of things that I do. So when I start a project, I have a vision for it. And as you can imagine, I work with teams because I enjoy maximising the synergy that comes from individuals from different backgrounds. When assembling my teams, I give people chances, I give everyone the benefit of the doubt but I have unfortunately been disappointed in the past. I have worked with people who haven’t understood my vision sometimes, there are some who have worked hard to undermine my abilities. I don’t know if this has been because I was young or a woman!"

"I have to give a disclaimer to say that I have not been explicitly intimidated or discouraged; that’s probably because of my attitude, haha. I have chosen to be so focused on my work that I can’t see certain distractions."

"In order to get to the point where you can actually contribute meaningfully to decision-making, you should have invested in yourself."

"Sensitization is Key. We have loss of values. Making efforts to enforce law is the best way to develop society."

"I think the challenge in politics is that somebody is mischievously trying to make the Nigerian woman believe there is problem for her going into politics."

"Ghanaians need to ditch mediocrity. I have observed that people take on responsibilities, looking for recognition, glory and remuneration, but never think about the work or the meaning of the commitment they have made."

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

"I Don’t Say No To Help."

"STEM is an excellent foundation. Don’t focus so much on the details at the beginning, rather about the skills you are acquiring in the process; logical thinking, critical thinking, analytical skills."

"Life is full of highs and lows; it’s a normal part of being alive."

"Students today want to have an impact in the world, to take science a step further and create usable solutions for society."

"I see myself as a scientist. When you think about the scientific method, whether your discipline is environmental science, marine science, geology, or something else… it doesn’t really matter."

"I encourage students to think of themselves first as scientists that are equipped with problem-solving skills."

"We don’t know what the problems of tomorrow are going to be, but I’m convinced that analytical and problem-solving skills will be key to solving tomorrow’s grand challenges."