Dr Cerene Rathilal

What does your company do?

STEM MentHER was founded in 2022 to support female learners pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. This is achieved by carefully pairing each learner with a female academic mentor and by exposing them to curated programmes involving female leaders and experts. Every year, ±10 learners are inducted into the program at each university that has a STEM MentHER Division. The programme currently has the following divisions: University of Johannesburg (Established in 2022) University of KwaZulu-Natal (Established in 2023) Stellenbosch University (Established in 2023) University of the Witwatersrand (Established in 2024) University of Cape Town (Established in 2024) North-West University (Established in 2025) University of the Western Cape (Established in 2025) Thus, in 2025, we are supporting ±70 learners. The objectives of the programme are: (1) Bridge the school-university gap. (2) Keep the girl child in the STEM pipeline. Historically, no more than 35% of females occupy roles/positions in STEM. (3) Inspire learners to pursue STEM careers by exposing them to female role models. (4) Provide expert mentorship. (5) Provide holistic study and career development opportunities to our mentees. (6) Empower mentors with professional development seminars/workshops (7) Empower educators via teacher training workshops focusing on STEM education.

What is your biggest success?

My greatest achievement is giving birth to STEM MentHER. This passion project, which is now a growing organisation, has claimed the support of all female academics it comes into contact with. STEM MentHER was born from my experiences as a girl in STEM and my desire to reduce the growing gender gap in STEM. I was the only female student in my honours and postgrad mathematics classes. The lack of female academics was clear, not just in mathematics but in the other sciences. Years later, when I got my first academic job, I felt empowered to transform my ideas into reality...and so STEM MentHER was born to ensure girls would have access to expert advice and feel supported to challenge spaces that were previously male-dominated. This to me also outweighs the achievement of obtaining my PhD.

What has been your biggest hurdle?

In late 2024, we were introduced to a colleague who wanted to join our WITS team. We later learnt that she joined our programme to learn the framework of how STEM MentHER runs so she could apply something similar in her paid tuition programme, which previously had no mentorship. We resolved the issue amicably, calling out the conflict of interest. She then vacated her portfolio and remained a colleague. This alerted our team to the fact that we do not have any MoUs or agreements to prevent the abuse of our STEM MentHER platform for personal gain. We now have agreements in place. We have also encountered a predatory sponsor (NITheCS), who supported the programme and then claimed the programme was theirs. Since resolving by terminating our relationship, they have now copied our Framework and launched an online programme (in May 2025).