Imogen Carew - Deputy and Quality Manager
Imogen Carew - Deputy and Quality Manager

For the love of science

Breaking barriers in a male-dominated industry
Imogen Carew shares her experience of working her way up to becoming the deputy and quality manager at Analytical Laboratory Services in Namibia.
Patricia Coetzee
Imogen Carew's journey to becoming the deputy and quality manager at Analytical Laboratory Services, a privately owned multidisciplinary lab, started off with her choosing her field of study simply to avoid being taught by her brother, who was an accounting and business teacher.

“You won’t believe this, but I chose the science field just to avoid being taught by my brother at high school,” Carew said.

As a deputy and quality manager, her job involves overseeing the water, soil and microbiological departments.

Carew, who is the youngest sister of five brothers, graduated with a bachelors degree in B.Science with chemistry as her major at the University of Namibia (Unam) and immediately started her first job as an assistant lab technician at the university.

After eight months at the university, she started working at the agriculture ministry as a hydrologist.

One year later she received a scholarship to study in Germany – returning to Namibia as a qualified instrumental analytical chemist.

Growth and experience

Carew quickly took up a position at the City of Windhoek as an analyst at the Scientific Services department and worked as a technician for eight years before being promoted to section head for the chemistry department.

“In total, I was with the City for 13 good years, then I briefly worked for another company before landing the position I am in now,” Carew explained.

She said one of her biggest challenges was finding her feet in a male-dominated industry, especially on a management level.

“My biggest challenge is that, working in a male-dominated sector, you are sometimes not taken note of, and my small frame does not make it any easier,” said Carew.

According to Carew, there are certain skills a person needs in order to have a successful career in her line of work:

- Be an analytical thinker

- Organisational and time management skills

- Be a good planner

“Planning in the sense that if you work in a laboratory set-up you need to have your day or week planned otherwise you won’t get your daily tasks done,” she explained.

Even though Carew loves her line of work, for the mother of three, the ultimate dream is to live on a farm and spend her days doing what she loves most: spending time with her family away from the rat race.

When asked if she had any advice for the aspiring youth, Carew had this to say;

“Don’t put your focus on other people, what they have, etc. You have your own gift and talent, which you need to discover and develop, and this simply comes from doing what you love and doing it properly.”

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Namibian Sun 2024-10-08

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 622.51/OZ DOWN -0.0078 | Copper US$ 4.45/lb DOWN -0.0201 | Zinc US$ 3 096.00/T UP 0.12% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 78.03/BBP DOWN -0.0441 | Platinum US$ 954.46/OZ DOWN -0.0169 Sport results: Premier League: Brighton 3 vs 2 Tottenham Hotspur | Chelsea 1 vs 1 Nottingham Forest | Aston Villa 0 vs 0 Manchester United | Everton 0 vs 0 Newcastle | West Ham 4 vs 1 Ipswich Town | Manchester City 3 vs 2 Fulham | Leicester City 1 vs 0 Bournemouth | Brentford 5 vs 3 Wolves | Arsenal 3 vs 1 Southampton | Crystal Palace 0 vs 1 Liverpool LaLiga: Real Sociedad 1 vs 1 Atletico Madrid | Sevilla 1 vs 0 Real Betis | Deportivo Alaves 0 vs 3 Barcelona | Girona 2 vs 1 Athletic Club | Real Madrid 2 vs 0 Villarreal | Real Valladolid 1 vs 2 Rayo Vallecano | Las Palmas 0 vs 1 Celta Vigo | Getafe 1 vs 1 Osasuna | Espanyol 2 vs 1 Mallorca SerieA: Fiorentina 2 vs 1 AC Milan | Monza 1 vs 1 AS Roma | SS Lazio 2 vs 1 Empoli | Bologna 0 vs 0 Parma | Juventus 1 vs 1 Cagliari | Inter Milan 3 vs 2 Torino | Atalanta 5 vs 1 Genoa | Udinese 1 vs 0 Lecce European Championships Qualifying: Bristol City 1 vs 1 Cardiff City | West Bromwich Albion 0 vs 0 Millwall FC | Watford 2 vs 1 Middlesbrough | Swansea City 0 vs 0 Stoke City | Sheffield United 2 vs 0 Luton Town | Plymouth Argyle 2 vs 1 Blackburn Rovers | Derby County 2 vs 0 Queens Park Rangers | Coventry City 1 vs 2 Sheffield Wednesday | Portsmouth 1 vs 1 Oxford United | Norwich City 4 vs 0 Hull City | Burnley 0 vs 0 Preston North End English Championship: Bristol City 1 vs 1 Cardiff City | West Bromwich Albion 0 vs 0 Millwall FC | Watford 2 vs 1 Middlesbrough | Swansea City 0 vs 0 Stoke City | Sheffield United 2 vs 0 Luton Town | Plymouth Argyle 2 vs 1 Blackburn Rovers | Derby County 2 vs 0 Queens Park Rangers | Coventry City 1 vs 2 Sheffield Wednesday | Portsmouth 1 vs 1 Oxford United | Norwich City 4 vs 0 Hull City | Burnley 0 vs 0 Preston North End Weather: Katima Mulilo: 18° | 36° Rundu: 17° | 38° Eenhana: 19° | 38° Oshakati: 20° | 37° Ruacana: 19° | 37° Tsumeb: 21° | 35° Otjiwarongo: 17° | 34° Omaruru: 18° | 34° Windhoek: 17° | 31° Gobabis: 20° | 33° Henties Bay: 13° | 19° Wind speed: 22km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 11:38, High tide: 06:00, Low Tide: 00:09, High tide: 18:07 Swakopmund: 13° | 15° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:36, High tide: 05:58, Low Tide: 00:07, High tide: 18:05 Walvis Bay: 13° | 20° Wind speed: 29km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:36, High tide: 05:57, Low Tide: 00:07, High tide: 18:04 Rehoboth: 17° | 33° Mariental: 21° | 35° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 36° Aranos: 21° | 35° Lüderitz: 10° | 20° Ariamsvlei: 20° | 37° Oranjemund: 13° | 22° Luanda: 23° | 24° Gaborone: 18° | 30° Lubumbashi: 17° | 35° Mbabane: 13° | 28° Maseru: 13° | 27° Antananarivo: 13° | 26° Lilongwe: 19° | 32° Maputo: 18° | 30° Windhoek: 17° | 31° Cape Town: 16° | 22° Durban: 16° | 24° Johannesburg: 16° | 27° Dar es Salaam: 24° | 31° Lusaka: 18° | 32° Harare: 16° | 29° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 22.98 | EUR to NAD 19.29 | CNY to NAD 2.49 | USD to NAD 17.58 | DZD to NAD 0.13 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.28 | EGP to NAD 0.35 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.65 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.17 | RUB to NAD 0.18 | INR to NAD 0.21 | USD to DZD 132.63 | USD to AOA 905 | USD to BWP 13.24 | USD to EGP 48.55 | USD to KES 128.5 | USD to NGN 1628.3 | USD to ZAR 17.58 | USD to ZMW 26.45 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1839.33 Down -1.67% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 14019.63 Down -0.97% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 30851.63 Down -3.04% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9661.12 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 622.51/OZ DOWN -0.0078 | Copper US$ 4.45/lb DOWN -0.0201 | Zinc US$ 3 096.00/T UP 0.12% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 78.03/BBP DOWN -0.0441 | Platinum US$ 954.46/OZ DOWN -0.0169