At Ashesi, the University community comprises 42% women on the staff team; 50% women on the Executive Team; 55% women on the Board of Directors; 47% women in the student body and 53% of students on scholarships being women. With such a great proportion of women at Ashesi, it is no wonder there are several considerations for women and families which are rarely practised in many organisations. Per our policy, Ashesi encourages family/work balance and therefore does not discriminate against its employees because of their family obligations. To the maximum extent possible, the University will seek to support full-time faculty members who become parents as they welcome new children into their families, whether by birth or adoption, by providing them with time off or flexible time as the case may be, continuity of entitled benefits, and opportunities for relief from their teaching duties

For the University to effectively plan, a faculty member who is pregnant or whose wife is pregnant must inform her/his Head of Department/Provost/Director of Human Resources by the end of the third month of the pregnancy for the necessary discussions and arrangements on either a reduction in teaching load, temporary absence, or replacement with another full time or temporary/adjunct lecturer, etc. to be made. A pregnant female faculty member shall be entitled to maternity leave of twelve (12) weeks from the date of delivery. The period of maternity leave may be extended for two additional weeks when recommended by a medical officer or approved by the Executive Committee as extenuating circumstances. Any period of absence from work due to the pregnancy which is duly certified by a medical practitioner shall not be treated as part of her maternity leave. A male faculty member, on presentation of a medical certificate issued by a medical practitioner indicating the expected date of his wife’s delivery, shall be entitled to paternity leave of four (4) weeks from the date of delivery (Employee Guidelines, Section 10.6.1)

On resumption of duty, a nursing mother (a breast-feeding mother) is entitled to interrupt her work during her working hours to nurse her baby or express milk for her baby. Nursing mothers who are teaching may request a teaching schedule conducive for this, at least four weeks before the start of the semester. One space designated on campus for nursing mothers is a 1-bedroom apartment recently named ‘Mother’s Lounge’. A nanny or a family member is also welcome in the Mother’s Lounge to take care of a baby during working hours. Additionally, it is not unusual to see a bassinette with a baby next to a nursing mother’s desk as she works. Should a student need the services of the Mother’s Lounge, that can be arranged.

Figure 1. Ashesi’s Mothers' Lounge

Figure 2. Ashesi’s Mothers' Lounge

Female students who become parents by birth are afforded the option of taking time-off from school or taking advantage of joining their classes online from home. The female student on resumption of in-person learning does not face any disruption with her course of study if she opted for taking time-off, and continues seamlessly if she opted for the online continuous learning. With the assistance of the academic advisor, the student may reconfigure her program of study, if necessary. If she had a scholarship award that had to be put on hold, arrangements would be made to reinstate, without penalty on her resumption of classes.