Prof. Faith Ben-Daniels Speaks on Women's Journeys at The Shemove Conference

Prof. Faith Ben-Daniels, PhD, served as a speaker at The Shemove Conference, an event organized by the National Union of Ghana Students USTED-K, The Women’s Commissioner under the theme Every Journey Has A Start, This Is Hers.

Her address moved beyond ceremonial encouragement. It became a candid reflection on the pressures women face while pursuing education, career growth, marriage, motherhood, and public achievement in systems that often ask women to sacrifice more than men.

A Personal Academic Journey

Prof. Ben-Daniels introduced herself through the many layers of her academic and creative work. She holds a PhD and MPhil in English Literature from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, a bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts and English from the University of Ghana, and a Diploma in Education from the University of Education, Winneba.

She also spoke as an Associate Professor of African and World Literature, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Communication Sciences at USTED, and a writer whose fiction includes the novels A Quarter Past Midnight, Mimosa, Gray Skies, and Of Dreams and Blue Ixoras, as well as the short story Blue Ixora.

The Message: Grit, Choice, and Systems

Drawing from her own journey through Nigeria and Ghana, her education, her upbringing by a single mother, her health challenges, and her career in academia, Prof. Ben-Daniels reminded young women that success is rarely simple or accidental.

She challenged the idea that women are naturally their own enemies, arguing instead that patriarchal systems are often internalized and reproduced by both men and women. Her message called students to recognize the structures around them without surrendering their agency.

It is not that women are their own worst enemies; it is the system that has been built to suppress women.

Women, Education, and Sacrifice

In one of the central parts of the speech, Prof. Ben-Daniels spoke directly about the difficult choices women often have to make in academic and professional life. She addressed the weight of relationships, marriage, pregnancy, childbearing, motherhood, health, finances, and social expectation.

She was especially direct with young women pursuing higher education, urging them not to allow pressure, materialism, unhealthy relationships, or premature responsibilities to derail their goals.

Advice to Young Women

Prof. Ben-Daniels ended with practical guidance for students and young women:

• Make time for your studies.
• Build personal principles and stand by them.
• Expand your academic horizon.
• Build a community of like-minded women.
• Move at your own pace.
• Do not allow distraction to decide your future.

She closed with a powerful reminder that a woman’s beauty may open a door, but her mind determines whether she remains at the table.

Why the Conversation Matters

The Shemove Conference created space for a serious conversation about women’s journeys, not as slogans, but as lived experiences shaped by courage, pressure, ambition, sacrifice, and choice.

Prof. Ben-Daniels’ contribution encouraged young women to think carefully about the lives they are building and to prepare themselves for the distance they want to travel.