Molecular biologist and entrepreneur Khady Sall helps to guide students towards jobs in biotechnology and artificial intelligence.In the final article of this eight-part series about the career experiences of African women scientists, Khady Sall explains how seeing the 2018 superhero film Black Panther contributed to her decision to return to her native Senegal and develop her career there. The film depicts an African nation, posing as a developing country while creating advanced technologies.
Seeing the action film Black Panther triggered something in me. The vision it portrays — of how local language, culture and ancestral knowledge can be integrated with science — was something I had spoken about at many conferences. About two months later, I woke up one day and bought a plane ticket home.
You have to navigate the politics, too. Some people associate having ambitions with becoming a politician and they can suspect you of having a different motive. This can make local funders skittish about supporting your organization. Instead, I push my work ahead. Sometimes people don’t know who is behind the work. But eventually, it’s your achievements that validate you. If you prove you can do it, you show that you are a capable person. This is why I was asked to set up master’s and bachelor’s degree programmes in molecular genetics and bioinformatics at the Virtual University. We are working to set up the laboratory space for both teaching courses and research.
The hardest part about being a female entrepreneur is that you will definitely need to work twice as hard as a man to succeed. People will tend to underestimate you. But at some point, you should be unapologetic about your leadership. Just get the work done. Show your organizational skills.
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