Visiting Professor Phil E. Okeke-Ihejirika, Professor and Acting Chair at the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Alberta, Canada, was recently hosted by DUT’s Directorate for Research and Postgraduate Support as part of the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Programme.
Themed “Principle-led gendered research, curricular and graduate training to be implemented in practice”, Prof Okeke-Ihejirika’s visit to the DUT was to empower women and assist those currently doing their research focusing on gender and inequalities. Speaking at a research seminar, she said, “There is a need for a culture that encourages women to pursue high education; a culture that will enable women to change their mindset. Society must begin to look at women as individuals, not just as mothers and wives. African societies look to women as wives and mothers to build community, but those societies should also recognise women as nation builders and equal partners with men in order to make strides economically, socially and politically”.

Professor Okeke-Ihejirika has further indicated that she has recognised the fact that gender has been ignored in many domains. In her presentation to the postgraduate students, she appealed to them to start interrogating gender issues, the importance of gender balance in higher education and social inequalities.

“There are so many things that have an impact on how our gender mediates our everyday life, therefore we can’t axe women out of issues and decision making processes,” she said.

Professor Okeke-Ihejirika’s visit to the DUT left a profound impact on those individuals she interacted with. The Directorate said it looks forward to implementing further joint projects that involve DUT staff and students, the Academy of Sciences of South Africa through OWSD (Organisation for Women in the Developing World) and SARIMA (Southern African Research Innovation and Management Association).

Prof Sibusiso Moyo, DUT Research and Postgraduate Support Director and Acting DVC: Engagements, said she is grateful for the DUT uptake and interest in hosting the fellow and thanked Dr Sylvia Kaye (Peace Programme DUT), Prof Geoff Harris (Peace Programme DUT), Crispin Hemson (Director: ICON at DUT) for hosting the fellow; Prof Paul Musonge (Act. Exec Dean: EBE at DUT) for supporting the grant application process and Dr Rene Smith (Exec. Dean: Arts and Design at DUT) for supporting the gender initiatives and discussions. “A special thank you to Professor Relebohile Moletsane who is the Dr JL Dube Chair in Rural Education based at UKZN for all her support and for being part of the collaborating team that will take forward some of the initiatives which include a joint publication initiative”, said Prof Moyo.

– Zenande Dakisa
Pictured: Front row from left: Prof Relebohile Moletsane, Dr Rene Smith, Prof Phil E. Okeke-Ihejirika and Prof Sibusiso Moyo. Back row from left: Nonye E. Orakuove, Vaneshree Govender, Prof Jamila Adam, Dr Ntombenhle Nombela, Crispin Hemson, Akhona Mncadi, Dr Bloodless Dzwairo, Dr Sylvia Kaye and Dr Nomkhosi Gama.