At the University of Ouagadougou, the largest university in Burkina Faso, the percentage of female student
enrollment in the Exact and Applied Sciences Unit was 5.1% (for all the levels) from 2006 to 2009—this rate was
2.3% for physics. For the same period, 22 women out of 455 students (4.8%) were enrolled in PhD (all the fields of
the Exact and Applied Sciences Unit) and three women out of 180 students (1.7%) registered in physics PhD. During
the 3rd IUPAP International Conference on Women in Physics in 2008, the Burkina Faso Working Group proposed
some strategies to attract more women to physics and all the sciences. Some actions were initiated at the University
of Ouagadougou as well as in secondary schools. These actions and the feedback of female students are presented.
gender enrollment, physics, University of Ouagadougou, women in physics, Burkina Faso