Windhoek
As the first and only Namibian dean at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust), Dr Anicia Peters wants as many Namibians to emulate her and follow in her footsteps.
The Executive Dean of the Faculty of Computing and Informatics said in an interview with New Era on Monday that there are very few Namibians with doctoral degrees (PhDs) in computer science and hence the need to empower Namibians to obtain PhDs and take up positions in this field.
“It’s because we don’t have enough Namibians with PhD degrees in computer science. There are only a handful of them,” said the Rehoboth-born Peters, when asked why she thinks she is the first and only Namibian to hold such a position at Nust.
“The salary of academics is always lower than what it is in the industry, but the main reason is we are struggling to find Namibians with PhDs to come into academics. Even Namibians with master’s degrees in computer science, who are willing to join the academia are few,” added the 44-year-old dean.
She has held the position of executive dean in the Faculty of Computing and Informatics at Nust since September last year.
“There’s no other Namibian dean. I’m the only one out of six and it’s the first time that a Namibian at Nust holds the position of an executive dean,” said the mother of four.
So far, her experience as executive dean in the Faculty of Computer and Informatics has been interesting, Peters says.
“The only time when it intimidated me was when somebody said ‘You’re the first Namibian dean and you’re being watched more closely than anybody else,” she said when asked if she ever felt intimidated.
She added that as a Namibian, in the beginning people sometimes mistook her for a lecturer, or secretary, instead of dean of the faculty. “In my work I do not have a lot of frustration, because I really have a very supportive environment,” she further said.
Since the transition of the former polytechnic to a university many opportunities have opened up, she noted. This, she says has put her in a position where she has the opportunity to put her expertise and experience from other universities to good use.
But there are also challenges of change management, Peters admitted.
“Sometimes people are not yet ready to make a transition. In a sense it’s exciting to be part of something that’s changing,” said Peters, who added that she is pushing for more Namibians to pursue their PhDs in order to compete more effectively with expatriates currently working in Namibia.
She stressed that as we are living in a technologically fast-advancing era it is vital for Namibians to embrace science-related fields and also to compete at an international level.
“Technology makes everything go round and it’s an age of innovation,” Peters added, stating that the country might lose out if only a few students take up technology-related fields of study.
“Remember that when we came from the apartheid era we didn’t have a lot of scientists or technologists. We were disadvantaged in that respect,” she said.
Pursuing studies in computer science
After the birth of her first child, Peters had high ambitions for her daughter to one day hold a PhD. However, at the time she did not have formal qualifications and worked as an accountant and gender coordinator.
“When my daughter was born I said: ‘One day I want my daughter to become to have a PhD degree and then I thought I’m saying that about my daughter, but I myself don’t even have a degree,” she recalled.
That is when she enrolled for a national diploma in business computing at the then Polytechnic of Namibia. She took a break from studies and during that time had her second child.
In 2007 she went back to school to pursue a B-Tech in computer science and at the end of her studies received the Rector’s award for best graduate in IT.
“With this I got an interesting call from the American Cultural Centre asking me if I would be interested in applying for a PhD scholarship to study in the United States (U.S.A)”
After contemplating whether to go or not, Peters and her family relocated to the where she pursued her PhD.
“I was very fortunate because I was one out of 42 worldwide who was selected to do a PhD degree in the U.S.A under the Fullbright Science and Technology award. We are only two Namibians who ever got that award and both are women.
“It’s a very prestigious award worldwide and to be selected from Namibia was certainly a big honour for both of us,” said Peters. In 2014, she completed her PhD in human-computer interaction, a sub-field of computer science.
‘Grab that opportunity’
Throughout the interview, Peters stressed the need for Namibians to grab opportunities presented to them to empower themselves and contribute to the development of the country.
She says she has made it a point to encourage students that they can excel, even on international platforms. “I want to expose more of our Namibian students to outside opportunities, because I have a very vast network at the moment because I was a Google scholar, so it just opens up many opportunities,” Peters said.
Other than being a recipient of many prestigious academic awards, both in Namibia and the U.S.A., where she obtained her PhD, Peters said one of her biggest accomplishments was to take students to the U.S.A.
“I was able to take two PhD students with me recently to Facebook headquarters and Google headquarters to a big conference in the United States,” she added.
Being married with children, Peters says what helped her succeed was her supportive husband. “You need a supportive partner who understands that both of you need to develop,” said Peters.
She also said people should not limit themselves in terms of what they can achieve. “Grab the opportunities today, don’t wait for tomorrow,” she advised.