Philomina Okeke-Ihejirika, PhD, MSc, M.Ed, B.Ed

Email

pokeke@ualberta.ca

Dr. Phil Okeke-Ihejirika is a full professor in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Her areas of expertise include Gender and Higher Education in Africa, and African International Migration. Her research, teaching and other professional activities contribute to a wide array of scholarly forums, embracing a broad network of academic institutions, scholars and international agencies, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Council for the Development of Economic and Social Research in Africa (CODESRIA). Dr. Okeke-Ihejirika is also actively involved in community building as a resource person to many community organizations, service providers and public agencies in Alberta. She belongs, among others, to the Women Advocacy Voice of Edmonton (WAVE), a 15-member advisory committee on gender issues to the city’s Mayor-and-Council. She has earned many academic, professional and community awards locally and in international circles.

Areas of Expertise:

• Gender and Higher Education in Africa
• Gender, Migration and Settlement
• Research Methods
• Social Inequalities in Canada 
• Gender and Development in Africa 
• Transnational Feminism
• Gender, Conflict and Peace

Most Current Awards:

2018: Research Celebration, Faculty of Arts

2017: Opens minds - U of A's innovated and talented humanities and social sciences researchers

2016: Collaborating researcher with the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

2016. Member, College of Mentors for African Universities

2016. African Diaspora Fellowship, Carnegie Corporation, New York

2016. Visiting Professorship, Council for the Development of Economic and Social research in Africa (CODESRIA)

2015: African Diaspora Fellowship, Carnegie Corporation, New York

2014: Special Mention – Human Right Activist, Alberta Legislature

2013: Outstanding Service to Community - African Center

Selected Leadership Roles and Consultancies:

2018: Director, Gender Institute, Council for the Development of Economic and Social Research in Africa, Dakar, Senegal. 

2018: Director, Pan African Collaboration for Excellence (PACE), University of Alberta.

2017: Director, Transnational Initiatives on Gender and Education Research (TIGER), University of Alberta, Canada.

2017: Member, Integrative Health Institute, University of Alberta, Canada.

2017: Institutional Liaison, Development of Memorandum of Understanding, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

2016 - Present: Academic mentor, Immigrant and Visible Minority Students in Post-Secondary Institutions

2016: Status of Women, Alberta – Development of a Framework for Staff Training on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. 

2014- Present: Appointed as part of a 15 member team to advise the city of Edmonton's mayor and council on gender issues: Women's Advocacy Voice of Edmonton (WAVE)

2009 - Present: Appointed as consultant to work on Memorandum of Understanding (MoU); work with FUTA stakeholders to develop programs for CEGIST. Federal University of Technology (FUTA) and Center for Gender Issues in Science and Technology:     

2010-2011: Director of the Research Funding Office of Kwara State University, Nigeria; developing new curriculum. Conducted during Sabbatical Leave

2011-2012: Member of an advisory group for my university's internationalization program developed to advise the Vice President (Academic) 

2004-2008: Participated in the CODERSRIA Project, Multi-national Working Group (MWGs) 

Topics:

• Gender, International Migration and Settlement
  
• Gender and Higher Education in Africa
• Precarities and Intersectionalites Internal Diplacement 
• Transnational Research Collaboration and Graduate Training

Selected Grants:

2018-2021: Kule Institute for Advanced Study; $70,000 - "African Immigrant and Refugee Families’ Resilience in Transnational Contexts: A Pan African Collaboration for Excellence (PACE) Research Agenda". (Principal Investigator)

2018-2019: Policy-Wise Alberta; $40,000 - “A participatory action research project to promote the mental health of African, Black and Caribbean Youths in Alberta." (Co-PI)

2018: Killam Cornerstone Grant; $48,750 - “Access to healthcare for immigrant children in Alberta.” (Co-PI)

2017-2018: Kule Institute for Advanced Studies Research Team Grant. $5,700 - "Strengthening parenting practices of African immigrants in Alberta: Mobilizing African immigrant communities and developing a research team". (Co-PI) 

2017- 2020: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Grant. $201,981 - “Transforming gender relations among African immigrants in Alberta - A participatory action study.” (Principal Investigator)

•  Plus matching funding from Kule Institute for Advanced Studies ($3,000).
  

2017-2020: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Grant; $197,145 - “Migration and precarity: From the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to permanent resident, student and undocumented migrant status.” (Co-PI)

• Plus matching funding from Kule Institute for Advanced Studies ($3,000).

2017-2018: World University Network – Research Development Fund. $25,000 - “Communicating Good Health and Wellbeing: Promotion, Advocacy and Resilience.”  (Co-PI)

2017-2018. Kule Institute for Advanced Studies Research Team Grant. $5,700 - "Strengthening parenting practices of African immigrants in Alberta: Mobilizing African immigrant communities and developing a research team." (Co-PI)

2017: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Knowledge Synthesis Grant; $25,000 -  “Addressing Domestic Violence in Post-Migration Gender Relations - A Prerequisite for Building Sustainable, Resilient Immigrant Communities.” (Principal Investigator)

2016-2017: Kule Institute for Advanced Study - University of Alberta; $7,000 - “A Pilot Study on the Experiences of and Support Services Needs of Internally Displaced Persons and Host Communities in Nigeria.” (Principal Investigator)

2016-2017: Killam Operating Grant; $6,024 - “A Scoping Review of Literature on Intimate Partner Violence in Africa and African Immigrant Communities in Western Industrialized Countries.” (Principal Investigator)

2016 – 2018: M.S.I Foundation; $66,000 - “Parenting and Mental Health Promotion Practices of African Immigrants in Alberta.” (Co-PI)

2016 – 2017: World University Network – Research Development Fund. $30,000. “Migration Policy, Welfare Boundary, Social Integration & Health-related Quality of Life of Children from Immigrant Families.” (Co-PI)

2016: Kule Institute for Advanced Studies. $2,000 - "Creating Gender Spaces for African Immigrant Families’ Successful Transition and Integration into the Canadian Society: Men’s Experiences.” (Principal Investigator)

2015-2016: Kule Institute for Advanced Studies Research Team Grant. $7,500 - "Interrogating the Impact of Recent Changes to Canadian Temporary Foreign Workers Policy on Canadians and Temporary Foreign Workers in Alberta: Developing a Research Team." (Co-PI) 

2015-2016 : Kule Institute for Advanced Studies. $2000 - “Creating Gender Spaces for African Immigrant Families’ Successful Transition and Integration into the Canadian society: Women’s Experiences.” (Principal Investigator) 

2015-2016: Carnegie Corporation of New York, Council for the Development of Economic and Social Research in Africa, and Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta, Canada. $6,000 - “Exploring the Experiences of Female Graduate Students in African Universities: Questions about Voice, Power and Responsibility.” (Principal Investigator)

2012-2013: Endowment Fund for the Future: Support for the Advancement of Scholarship (EFF-SAS) Research Fund; $5,542 - “Review of Existing Knowledge on International Obligations to Refugees in Advanced Industrial Countries.” (Principal Investigator)