Mrs Cynthia Kwarteng Tufuor, the Tema Regional Manager of the SIC Insurance Company PLC, has called on women to upgrade their technical and theoretical knowledge to break the professional biases that they encounter.
Mrs Tufuor made this known at the climax of a three day monthly stakeholders engagement seminar organized by SIC Insurance Company PLC; a platform rolled out for state and non-state actors to address national issues.
Speaking on the topic: ‘Prospects of women in the insurance industry: Women’s contribution to the SIC Mission,’ she indicated that women play a greater role in the industry and as such, they must work towards improving themselves.
According to the Regional Manager, a well-educated woman with the necessary skills, knowledge, and self-assurance, will necessarily be a better mother, worker, and citizen.
“Women who are empowered with knowledge and skills, will be more productive and well-honoured at whatever working field they find themselves. If women can uphold their skills, they could rise to the occasion when they are called upon.”
Mrs Cynthia Kwarteng Tufuor
Citing her company as an example, Mrs Tufuor explained that women occupy about 60 per cent of the work population at SIC, but unfortunately, are in the minority in terms of leadership. She further said that women only hold 35 per cent of SIC leadership positions, “minority ruling the majority… This error is being corrected as in recent times; women started building their managerial skills and abilities for the top.”
Mrs Tufuor said, “women’s participation in leadership roles helps advance gender equality and affect both the range of policy issues that get considered and the type of solution that is proposed.”
The Natural Traits of Women
The Regional Manager elaborated that women have a natural trait with a good ability and skills to understand and interact with people, hence when given opportunities, they will emphasize the quality of life and reflect on the priorities of families, women, ethnic, and racial minorities.
Mrs Tufuor, moreover, commended the Ghana Port and Harbour Authority (GPHA) for opening the workspace for women’s penetration into the male-dominated field. She averred that, now technology virtually balanced the workspace, and “works that in the past demanded physical manpower have changed as machines are now being used to manage these- this makes it flexible for the female to also operate it.”
Mrs Florence Essel, Assistant General Manager in Charge of Administration, Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA), speaking on the topic: ‘Prospects of women in the blue economy: Women’s Contribution to the GPHA’s 60 years of Operation,’ opined that societal classification of jobs in the past has made it difficult for the female to venture into the male-dominated fields. She noted that some of the machines and other operational mechanisms made it impossible for a female to enter those fields in the past but now the situation is changing.
Mrs Sika Ramatu Lawson, a Project Electrical Engineer at the Department of Electrical Engineer at Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), also spoke on ‘Prospects of women in the oil refinery sector: Women’s contribution to the success story of the Tema Oil Refinery.’ She noted that the refinery, which is a purely engineering-oriented field of work, is male-dominated as fewer women study and work in that area. She thus, called on women to endeavor to bridge the gap between their male counterpart.
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