Towards an African feminist framework for students' welfare in Nigerian Higher Education
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Education
Abstract
This proposed project builds on my PhD research study titled 'In Our Own Voices: A Critical Participatory Study of the Wellbeing of Female Undergraduate Students in Nigeria' (Nwako, 2020). Women students are disadvantaged and marginalised in African universities as they face a myriad of problems that threaten their physical health, emotional safety and academic progress. However, the wellbeing of women students in Nigerian educational institutions has received little research attention, the issues are neither given much policy consideration nor opportunities for improvement in practice. Thus, the study aimed to critically explore the ways in which the wellbeing and capabilities of female undergraduate students are conceptualised and understood in Nigeria, a country in West Africa, through a postcolonial feminist lens.
The privileging of the voice and agency of women participants, as well as an interrogation of the coloniality of university structures, was intrinsic to the research design used within the research context. The study engaged with and advanced African feminist sociological literature and employed a critical participatory methodology involving innovative methods of data collection and analysis (see Summary of completed thesis in the Case for Support).
The PhD research found that wellbeing is an inadequate concept tied to western policy discourses in education that does not reflect the realities of the Nigerian higher education context. The research introduced and developed a concept of welfare which not only was more commonly used and understood by African women in universities, but better reflected their negotiations of multiple dimensions of contextual experiences. This re-conceptualisation signified the importance of understanding and representing the experiences and motivations of women with respect to the material conditions of higher education. Thus, a new conceptual map, leading to a framework for rethinking welfare through an African feminist lens, was established through the research.
Significantly, my research equal importance on supporting women students develop their understandings and responses to welfare at an individual level as well as in relation with other women. This interaction between the individual and the collective underpins the participatory nature of my research and lends itself to the idea of collaboration and co-production of resources through the potential fellowship project.
The centring of women's voices and experiences within the study challenged a number of policy assumptions and priorities within Nigerian higher education. The project contributes important insights into ongoing policy debates on how to mitigate gender-based violence in higher education institutions. These questions will be taken up specifically through the engagement work designed for the postdoctoral fellowship.
This ESRC postdoctoral fellowship project will consolidate my career as an education researcher and critical academic commentator on African feminist scholarship. I will be able to work closely with Professor Arathi Sriprakash, a highly respected mentor who is experienced in gender and epistemic justice, as well as postcolonial and decolonial perspectives in comparative and international education.
In addition, I will implement a multi-targeted approach to communicate the above-mentioned findings, implications and recommendations from my PhD study. This approach will have academic and individual impact through:
- International peer-reviewed journal publications and grant development.
- Planned webinars to share policy-based research findings with education stakeholders and to support the development of institutional policies and procedures.
- Communication of research to a lay target audience through accessible, engaging and creative outputs.
- Facilitation of knowledge exchange between African female students to establish empowering national and international networks.
The privileging of the voice and agency of women participants, as well as an interrogation of the coloniality of university structures, was intrinsic to the research design used within the research context. The study engaged with and advanced African feminist sociological literature and employed a critical participatory methodology involving innovative methods of data collection and analysis (see Summary of completed thesis in the Case for Support).
The PhD research found that wellbeing is an inadequate concept tied to western policy discourses in education that does not reflect the realities of the Nigerian higher education context. The research introduced and developed a concept of welfare which not only was more commonly used and understood by African women in universities, but better reflected their negotiations of multiple dimensions of contextual experiences. This re-conceptualisation signified the importance of understanding and representing the experiences and motivations of women with respect to the material conditions of higher education. Thus, a new conceptual map, leading to a framework for rethinking welfare through an African feminist lens, was established through the research.
Significantly, my research equal importance on supporting women students develop their understandings and responses to welfare at an individual level as well as in relation with other women. This interaction between the individual and the collective underpins the participatory nature of my research and lends itself to the idea of collaboration and co-production of resources through the potential fellowship project.
The centring of women's voices and experiences within the study challenged a number of policy assumptions and priorities within Nigerian higher education. The project contributes important insights into ongoing policy debates on how to mitigate gender-based violence in higher education institutions. These questions will be taken up specifically through the engagement work designed for the postdoctoral fellowship.
This ESRC postdoctoral fellowship project will consolidate my career as an education researcher and critical academic commentator on African feminist scholarship. I will be able to work closely with Professor Arathi Sriprakash, a highly respected mentor who is experienced in gender and epistemic justice, as well as postcolonial and decolonial perspectives in comparative and international education.
In addition, I will implement a multi-targeted approach to communicate the above-mentioned findings, implications and recommendations from my PhD study. This approach will have academic and individual impact through:
- International peer-reviewed journal publications and grant development.
- Planned webinars to share policy-based research findings with education stakeholders and to support the development of institutional policies and procedures.
- Communication of research to a lay target audience through accessible, engaging and creative outputs.
- Facilitation of knowledge exchange between African female students to establish empowering national and international networks.
Publications
| Description | I discovered two key findings/achievements associated with this award: Firstly, the development of new research questions on deeper linkages between women students' welfare, mental health, and stress challenges. In the African academic landscape, students face increasingly demanding environments, balancing academic pressures, social expectations, and personal responsibilities. These stressors can significantly impact mental health, leading to anxiety, depression, and other psychological difficulties. For women students in particular, challenges such as academic performance expectations, financial burdens, social isolation, and gender discrimination further exacerbate their stress levels. It is crucial for African universities and other tertiary education institutions to recognise these links and implement proactive measures to support student welfare, including accessible mental health resources, effective gendered counselling services, stress management programmes, and initiatives that promote a supportive and inclusive campus culture. By addressing these challenges, institutions can foster an environment conducive to holistic development and academic success for all students without discrimination. Secondly, in relation to financial burdens, most women students must work or start a small business alongside their studies to fund their education and make ends meet. This is mainly due to the economic situation and high poverty levels in Nigeria. As a result, I was able to explore new areas of collaboration on welfare and entrepreneurship for women students and graduates. |
| Exploitation Route | The outputs and outcomes of this funding can offer strategies in collective action among women students, to advocate for policies and practices that support their own welfare within and beyond tertiary institutions. They contribute to the knowledge base within academia and international academic bodies such as the Association of African Universities and the African Studies Association, advancing understanding of factors that impact on women students' welfare, inspiring further inquiry and research collaborations and leading to improvements in educational outcomes for women students across institutions. Higher education administrators and staff are informed about pertinent issues that affect women students with guidance to implement robust gender equity policies and tailored support services. Parents/Guardians can gain insights into the lived experiences of women students, enabling their involvement with educational institutions to enhance the welfare of their children/wards. By promoting awareness of women students' unique challenges, male allies may be encouraged to support gender equality initiatives, fostering empathy, and understanding towards their peers. Policy makers at national and institutional levels can use these research-based outcomes to prioritise student welfare initiatives, develop legislation, allocate funding resources that support gender equity. Finally, Non-Governmental Organisations working in the field of education and gender justice can develop advocacy programmes and interventions to address gender disparities and promote women students' welfare. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Education Other |
| Description | Overall, the award achieved greater awareness of the experiences and challenges faced by women students in Nigeria and other Sub-Saharan African countries, resulting in improved quality of life for them. I created 4 collaborative learning opportunities, student-led forums, and safe environments for networking between women students and their male peers and in African tertiary education institutions. Each of the activities aimed to foreground and support students' welfare, wellbeing, mental health, and financial resilience. They include webinars to commemorate International Women's Day in 2022 and 2023, on the topics of Tackling Gender Bias for Equity and Sustainability on African Campuses and Ensuring Equitable Practices for Women and Youths in African Societies, respectively. The webinars were organised by students, for students and attended by 74 participants in total from 5 countries namely, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and United Kingdom. Another event on Mental Health and Stress Challenges Amongst University Students was held, including video interviews and an online discussion took place with university students capturing their views of these issues. Although focused on Nigerian students, there were participants from other countries such as The Gambia. In line with this topic, I was invited on two occasions as a guest lecturer to first year undergraduate students on the Psychology course at the University of the West of England in Bristol, England. I presented my research findings to academic colleagues at the Oxford Africa Collaborative (University of Oxford and University of South Africa); at a Community Engagement session of the University of Bristol's direct access undergraduate course; at the Higher Education and Human Development Research Group of the University of the Free State in South Africa; and to doctoral students from the Doing A PhD in Africa community. I also facilitated and co-designed sustainable resources to foster dialogue, knowledge exchange and best practice through a women students' conference with participants from 12 tertiary education institutions in the South-West of Nigeria. There was also representation from the women student bodies such as the National Women Students Association of Nigeria, the Gender Unit of the National Association of Nigerian Students, and support from the Women Students Welfare Association at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. The conference was held at a private university in Ibadan and attended by 86 delegates, with 3 keynote speakers from the University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, and the Lagos State Tax Office. Keynote speeches covered students' responsibilities and involvement in university management, welfare and wellbeing, leadership, and financial resilience. I co-produced a graphic novella book based on my PhD research findings, depicting the lived experiences of women students in Nigerian universities. This collaborative process emphasised the African feminist values of understanding how women students navigate complex welfare challenges in postcolonial contexts. The creative format of a graphic book was designed to appeal to a wider audience beyond academia, including young people. Between 2021-2022 (first year of award): Although my academic publications, policy and non-academic contributions are still in review, my engagement work from this award continues to make significant impact on women students in Nigerian universities as well as non-academic audiences. For instance, for the most part of 2022, the academic staff unions in Nigeria were on strike action (8 months) and therefore, federal universities were shut down, Students spent the time at home either searching for temporary work, undergoing vocational skills training, or they remained idle. Through this award, I was able to locate and partner with some of these young people, in particular budding entrepreneurs, to network with each other and support each other's welfare and aspirations. As a result, my findings have cut across the board, and positively impacted on students' wellbeing, despite the lack of higher education provision; further leading to an interdisciplinary partnership working with other young entrepreneurs in Nigeria. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal Economic |
| Description | Women in Nigeria Higher Education |
| Organisation | Alex Ekwueme Federal University Nigeria |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | My intellectual input and research results. I contributed the literature review to a research report and book chapter that were produced from the project on supporting women students in Nigerian higher education. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Access to data from their research project (see above), access to their students for participation in my project, their intellectual and contextual expertise based on previous work done at their institutions. |
| Impact | Two publications - 1. Research report titled: 'Supporting Women Students in Nigerian Higher Education' 2. Book chapter: DOI 10.4324/9781003286943-8 |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Women in Nigeria Higher Education |
| Organisation | University of Portsmouth |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | My intellectual input and research results. I contributed the literature review to a research report and book chapter that were produced from the project on supporting women students in Nigerian higher education. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Access to data from their research project (see above), access to their students for participation in my project, their intellectual and contextual expertise based on previous work done at their institutions. |
| Impact | Two publications - 1. Research report titled: 'Supporting Women Students in Nigerian Higher Education' 2. Book chapter: DOI 10.4324/9781003286943-8 |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Conference presentation on Representing women students' activism through decolonial African comics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a presentation authored with an independent scholar and illustrator of one of my work-in-progress outputs - a graphic novella, which took place during the 'Comics and the Global South' conference at Cambridge University. The presentation was subject to questions and comments by the audience that comprised of both professional comics practitioners, academics and PGR researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/29801/#programme |
| Description | International Women's Day 2022 online event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The event, based on the theme of International Women's Day 2022, was "Tackling Gender Bias for Equity and Sustainability on African Campuses". The event focused on addressing the challenges faced by female students face in African tertiary institutions such as how to curb sexual exploitation, break gender biases and deal with stereotypes against women students. The interactive discussion was moderated by a female student and featured talks from three other students in Nigeria and Kenya. Attendees from Ghana, Uganda and the United Kingdom contributed robust questions, arguments and suggestions to the topics discussed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.zibahnwako.com/tackling-gender-bias-for-equity-and-sustainability-on-african-campuses/ |
| Description | International Women's Day 2023 online event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | For International Women's Day 2023, I facilitated an online event titled 'Ensuring equitable practices for women and youths in African societies', targeted at young student and professional audiences. This fully participatory event featured talks by two speakers and a moderator, as well as topical opinions and experiences shared by attendees. A number of participants also expressed an interest in further discussions in future related events. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.zibahnwako.com/equitable-practices-in-african-societies/ |
| Description | Mental Health and Stress Challenges Amongst University Students |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This was an online discussion with a guest speaker who recently graduated as a Medical Doctor and has personal and professional experience on the topic. It discussion was followed by a confidential Q+A session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.zibahnwako.com/welfare-and-mental-health-a-potent-link/ |
| Description | Our Welfare Matters |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A female students conference was held in September 2023 at a university in Ibadan, Nigeria. Targeted at both undergraduate and postgraduate students, 85 attendees from 4 universities discussed interactive topics in breakout groups on topics related to the conference theme of 'Our Welfare Matters'. They navigated the challenges that hinder their welfare, their ability to assume leadership roles and their financial wellbeing. The conference provided valuable insights on personal and professional development. 3 guest speakers shared their expertise on women empowerment, confidence building, strategic navigation of systems, holistic education, and financial management for female students in tertiary institutions. One of the speakers, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Nigeria, acknowledged that the freedoms women enjoy today, such as education, voting rights, and independence, are the results of past struggles. She urged the students to continue this legacy by paving the way for future generations of women through active participation in gender equality initiatives. According to the second speaker, confidence, knowledge and capacity building were highlighted as a key ingredient for leadership success. Continuous learning and acquiring new skills enhance self-assurance and decision-making abilities. Understanding and working within existing academic and professional systems was also emphasised. Rather than resisting structures, conference attendees were admonished to seek opportunities that align with their goals. Identifying and leveraging favourable policies and programmes can contribute to career advancement. Since education extends beyond academics, acquiring practical skills, networking, and engaging in knowledge-sharing experiences, all help to develop a well-rounded perspective. The third speaker advocated that financial discipline plays a crucial role in shaping one's reputation. Responsible borrowing and effective financial planning are essential, as the way students handle their finances affects their credibility among peers and others. Cultivating financial prudence and avoiding unnecessary debt accumulation is therefore vital. The conference provided attendees with knowledge and strategies for success, empowering them with lessons that will lead to individual growth, improve peer relationships, support their academics, and create a more informed society. I worked with a core conference planning team of 7 (including parents, graduates and female students themselves), as well as 15 other volunteers who each played a pivotal role in taking charge of publicity, volunteer co-ordination, content writing, liaising with vendors, stakeholder communications, and practical roles on the day. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation on Towards an African Feminist Framework for students' welfare in Nigeria |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to present my research findings and current fellowship project work to members of the Higher Education & Human Development's Brownbag Tea session, at the University of the Free State, South Africa. Titled 'Towards an African Feminist Framework for students' welfare in Nigeria', my presentation provoked questions and contributions from scholars and practitioners who also use the human capability theoretical approach in their research studies of well-being, agency and structures of inequalities, across the African continent. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://youtu.be/7AUEZULvtNs |
| Description | Talk on Exploring Wellbeing with female students in Nigerian universities |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The results of my research was shared with a group of mature learners as part of the Community Engagement component of the B.A. English Literature and Community Engagement degree at the University of Bristol. They found the research study insightful and discussed societal and policy influences on community practice - locally, national and internationally. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Talks on Individual Differences in Mental Health and Well-being (UWE) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I was invited by the Psychology Department at the University of the West of England (UWE) to give talks to 7 groups of undergraduate students about individual and collective differences in mental health and well-being in the context of my research and in comparison to their own environment, challenges and provision. The talks included creative and visual activities that enabled a greater understanding and awareness of the welfare issues faced by students in Nigerian public universities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |