The Season 7 finale features a compelling roundtable with young academics, Chebet Koske and Dorcas Mwigereri, discussing the realities of navigating the African academy. They tackle challenges like limited resources, mentorship gaps, and sidelined youth voices, while emphasising the need for intergenerational collaboration and peer support.

Our guests share strategies for young people to confidently step into leadership roles and also highlight the critical need for platforms that amplify young voices and center (rather than tokenise) Africa’s youth in shaping the future. Chebet and Caroline close the discussion by sharing their ambitions, advice for older generations, and words to their younger selves.

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How are youth shaping and influencing the African research ecosystem and its future? As the youngest generation in the field, they bring with them a unique perspective, and technological implications as digital natives along with their desires and motivations. 

Dr. Moses Ngware, Head of Education and Youth Empowerment research at the African Population and Health Research Center, discusses how to harness the power of youth in informal knowledge generation and the pressing need to make research less elitist to support young talent development. This episode also explores succession planning and the role of universities as pathways for upward mobility in African contexts where other economic opportunities face significant barriers. Dr. Moses highlights the importance of creating a welcoming and accessible research ecosystem for the next generation of Africa’s researchers and innovators.

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If the African academy is broken, how can it be reimagined? In this bonus episode with Prof. Wandia Njoya, we pick up our conversation on how to build alternative systems that encourage intellectual freedom and critical thinking. We examine the unique history of the university system in Kenya, alongside broader challenges across Africa, exploring the tension between government control and the public's need for universities as engines of social mobility. The conversation also touches on popular GenZ-led protests and the politicisation of universities amidst the depoliticisation of students.

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Can we reimagine education and create alternatives, or is the African university under siege? With Prof. Wandia Njoya, an Associate Professor of Literature who loves to stretch academic boundaries, we explore the stifling of African talent within the current education system that drives many to seek opportunities abroad. We also discuss the plight of young African women researchers, the lack of career paths for academics and creatives, and the effects of the industrialisation of Africa's universities on learning. Prof. Wandia challenges the current system and shares strategies to nurture young talent and innovation, while resisting global pressures.

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We sit down with Dr. Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, senior economic policy expert, former Nigerian Minister and Vice President for the World Bank's Africa Region, and founder of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance to examine how policy impacts the implementation and utility of research across Africa. We discuss what policymakers need to consider to effectively bridge the gap between policy and research, in order for research to drive meaningful change. Dr. Oby also highlights the critical role of intergenerational learning for women in leadership and discusses the launch of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance in Kenya, a new step forward in advancing informed, impactful policymaking across the continent.

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What does it means to be a “young” researcher in Africa? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Elizabeth Mutua, a computer science lecturer and Mawazo Fellowship alumnus, to discuss the unique challenges and growth opportunities for young academics. Dr. Elizabeth offers insights from her PhD journey, including the age limitations imposed by funders and the added challenges of balancing her research and starting a family. Dr. Elizabeth also shares her own experience with mentoring, and what inspired her to create a mentorship program for young girls in science, now reaching over 400 high school and university students. This episode sheds light on what it takes to build a career in academia and to uplift the next generation of female scientists in Africa.

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In this Sixth and Final Episode of the Mawazo Ideas Podcast Season Six, scholars explore the impact of conflict on African women researchers.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) states that 30 million displaced people live in Africa. This is about one-third of the world’s refugee population. Higher numbers have been recorded in Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Sudan, South Sudan, The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Nigeria. Studies have shown that women migrants and refugees often bear the brunt of conflicts, experiencing extreme conditions such as human rights violations, including gender-based violence (Arawi, 2021; Kabamba, 2018).

In the DRC, Meger (2010) reports that decades of conflict expose women to sexual exploitation and that girls as young as six months are not spared from the violence being committed by armed groups and the United Nations peacekeepers. This risk of death, rape, and injury often escalates to emotional, intellectual, epistemological, ecological, and a host of attacks that interfere with knowledge production.

Join us as we explore this critical topic, what it means for the research ecosystem, as well as some of the peace-building initiatives employed by scholars and their communities to bring about lasting peace.

Further Reading
Ahmad Kaw, M., & Ahmad, S. (2014). Gender prejudice in the research world: Female researchers in a conflict zone, Kashmir. Library Review, 63(8/9), 684–699. https://doi.org/10.1108/LR-04-2013-0051

Alhaji Ali, M., Ahmad Zakuan, U. A., & Ahmad, M. (2018). The Negative Impact of Boko Haram Insurgency on Women and Children in Northern Nigeria: An Assessment. American International Journal of Social Science Research, 3, 27–33. https://doi.org/10.46281/aijssr.v3i1.141

Arawi, T. (2021). Deconstructing the Challenges of Doing Research in Conflict Zones and Areas of Protracted Conflict: The Ecology of Life in Gaza. In I. Laher (Ed.), Handbook of Healthcare in the Arab World (pp. 3379–3394). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36811-1_220

Kabamba, P. (2018). You Cannot Get Blood Out of a Stone: The Nexus of Neoliberalism, Violence and Slavery in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SSRN Scholarly Paper 3147436). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3147436

Meger, S. (2010). Rape of the Congo: Understanding sexual violence in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 28(2), 119. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02589001003736728 

Mohamed, H. (2019). From the Margins to the Centre: Somali Women in Peacebuilding. In M. Keating & M. Waldman (Eds.), War and Peace in Somalia: National Grievances, Local Conflict and Al-Shabaab (p. 0). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190947910.003.0022

Nanja

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The team explores how African women scholars fund their doctoral studies in this fifth episode of Season Six of the Mawazo Ideas Podcast. The scholars take us on a daring journey of crowdsourcing funding information, seeking familial support, partnering with scholars from different geographical jurisdictions, adapting to existing funding criteria, and mapping new trajectories whenever necessary to secure the coveted doctoral degree.

Globally, funding has been cited as the major factor that drives research outcomes among scholars. African women, in particular, are positioned in the lower rungs of the academy and account for a mere 30% of doctoral graduates in sub-Saharan Africa (Tsephe, 2023). Seventeen years ago, African countries committed to spending 1% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on research, yet they only spent 0.42% against the backdrop of a 1.7% global average (Caelers & Okoth, 2023).

According to Schultz1, & Rankhumise (2023), accessing research funding constitutes a significant challenge for many academics. A few funding opportunities specifically target African academics, particularly African women. Proactive academics who are knowledgeable about the opportunities and often take advantage of such opportunities. Notably, many academics report difficulties in obtaining funding, possibly because of a lack of transparency in funding opportunities, a lack of knowledge about funding opportunities, and a lack of expertise to access funding opportunities (Ramnund-Mansingh & Seedat-Khan 2020). Generally, funding is a challenge for Black women academics (Monnapula-Mapesela, M. 2017).

With the myriad of urgent problems facing the African continent, investment in research and development is imperative to the continent’s growth in all spheres. While research is not necessarily limited to the academy, a doctoral degree is a prerequisite to entering the academy, securing tenure, and commanding space for African women as a traditionally marginalised demographic. For these women, access to funding allows them to take up scholarly space and solve some of the most urgent challenges on the continent.

Further Reading

1. Caelers D. & Okoth D. (2023) Research Funding in Africa: navigating sustainability and shifting perspectives. https://www.nature.com/articles/d44148-023-00360-4
2. Monnapula-Mapesela, M. (2017). Developing as an academic leader in a university of technology in South Africa: Dealing with enabling and constraining teaching and learning environments. Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning, 5(2), 69-85. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/cristal/article/view/164434 
3. Ramnund-Mansingh, A., & Seedat-Khan, M. (2020). Understanding the career trajectories of black female academics in South Africa: A case study of the University of Kwazulu-Natal. Perspectives in Education, 38(2), 56-69. https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.18820/2519593X/pie.v38.i2.04
4. Schultz1, C., & Rankhumise, E. (2023). Constraints and contributors in advancing black women academic researchers at a university in South Africa. South African Journal of

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This season of the Mawazo Ideas Podcast, we are exploring the Realities of African Women in Research. Join us as we dive into  what it truly means to pursue a PhD on the continent on as an African woman.

For the first episode of the season, we will follow an African woman's journey into the research realm. African women only account for 31.5 percent of the researchers on the continent, yet an increase from 30.9 per cent in 2011 (UNESCO, 2024) has continued to inspire more women to pursue doctoral degrees. What really are the motivations for African women to study for a PhD? Listen in as we hear from our alumni on the application process, challenges and anxieties experienced, dealing with supervisors and post-PhD plans.

Further Reading:
 Amutabi, M. N. (2018). Social and Political Obstacles in Pursuing PhD Degree in Africa: Interrogating the Problem of Gatekeepers and Structural Obstacles. Journal of African Interdisciplinary Studies. 2 (1), 2018: 126 – 146.

Haynes, C. et al. (2012) ‘My World is not my doctoral program…or is it?: Female students’ perceptions of well-being’, International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 7, pp. 001–017. doi:10.28945/1555.

Levecque, K. et al. (2017) ‘Work Organization and Mental Health Problems in Phd students’, Research Policy, 46(4), pp. 868–879. doi:10.1016/j.respol.2017.02.008.

Platt, J., & Schaefer, C. (1995). Clinical Psychology Students’ Subjective Stress Ratings during Their Doctoral Training. Psychological Reports, 76(3), 994-994. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1995.76.3.994

Sekas, G; Wile, M Z. Stress-related illnesses and sources of stress: comparing M.D.-Ph.D., M.D., and Ph.D. students. Journal of Medical Education 55(5):p 440-6, May 1980.

The gender gap in science: status and trends, February 2024. UNESCO

 





 

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In this fourth episode of season 6 of the Mawazo Ideas Podcast, the team explores how women scholars pioneer, research, and generally exist on the margins of academia.

 Scholars explore the gendered experiences of women academics through the feminist intersectional lens. The discussion focuses on sexism and misogyny within the academy and other critical intersecting identities like race, ageism, and disability which create and reproduce structural inaccuracies, impede academic freedom, and sustain structural marginalization of African women academics (Phaswana-Mafuya, 2023; Tamale & Onyango, 1997; Sougou et al. 2022; Madikizela-Madiya & Mkhwanazi 2024). For women doctoral candidates, advisory relationships, childcare for student mothers or lack thereof create a world of difference between who succeeds, who merely survives, and who abandons the academy altogether (Tsephe, 2021), and as Mose (2019) observes, such structural inequalities have a ripple impact on women professors who often shoulder the bulk of the care work by directly supporting their own families, the students, and their male colleagues. Finally, disability inclusion in the academy invites us to go beyond the physical infrastructure by considering the intangible but critical structures that foster disability justice and inclusion.

Join us, as we unpack the layers of gendered experiences and how the academy can leverage into the existing feminist work to create more inclusive spaces which will ultimately improve the quality of research.

Further Reading

1. Madikizela-Madiya, N., & Mkhwanazi, S. T. (2024). Academic identities and socio-spatial exclusions of academics with disabilities: A capabilities approach. Disability & Society, 0(0), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2024.2311357
2. Mose, C. (2019). Towards a (more) gender-responsive model of collaboration. Journal of African Cultural Studies, 31(3), 283–286. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13696815.2019.1633284
3. Phaswana-Mafuya, R. N. (2023). Navigating Academia: Women’s Stories of Success and Struggle - A Call to Action. UJ Press. https://doi.org/10.36615/9781776447497
4. Sougou, N. M., Ndiaye, O., Nabil, F., Folayan, M. O., Sarr, S. C., Mbaye, E. M., & Martínez-Pérez, G. Z. (2022). Barriers of West African women scientists in their research and academic careers: A qualitative research. PLOS ONE, 17(3), e0265413. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265413
5. Tamale, S., & Oloka-Onyango, J. (1997). Bitches at the academy: Gender and academic freedom at the African university. Africa Development/Afrique et Développement, 22(1), 13-37. https://www.africabib.org/htp.php?RID=163203989 
6. Tsephe, L. (2021). A capabilities approach to African women’s success in doctoral programmes in South Africa (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pretoria (South Africa). https://www.proquest.com/openview/ce864c9591568b272a3ead50a1db85db/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2026366&diss=y

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