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

Contact

Professor, Faculty of Arts - Womens & Gender Studies

Email: pokeke@ualberta.ca

Overview

About

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). Since 2015, as a principal investigator, Dr. Okeke-Ihejirika has been awarded over 30 grants totalling more than $4,2 million in funds for research, training, and knowledge mobilization from major social science funding agencies across Canada.

Dr. Phil is a Rotary Scholar, Killam professor, Carnegie fellow, a founding member of the College of Mentors for African Universities, and a collaborating researcher with the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. She is also actively involved in community building as a resource person to many community organizations, service providers, and public agencies in Alberta. She is the Co-Chair of the Premier’s Council on Multiculturalism and a member of the Alberta Black Advisory Committee.

Areas of Expertise:

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

Most Current Awards:

2025: Rosalind Smith Award, The National Black Coalition of Canada- Edmonton Chapter

2018: Research Celebration, Faculty of Arts

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

2013: Outstanding Service to Community - African Centre

Selected Leadership Roles and Consultancies:

2023-Present: Co chair of The Premier’s Council on Multiculturalism, Alberta

2024-Present: Alberta Black Advisory Council (ABAC) Member

2022-Present: Director, Partnership for Research with African Newcomers (PRAN), University of Alberta (co-funded by $2.5 million SSHRC Partnership Grant and partner contributions)

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

Research

Topics:

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

Selected Grants:

2022-2027: SSHRC PG; $2,500,000 - “I am because we are - Amplifying Sub-Saharan African immigrants’ resilience and ability to thrive (PRAN)” (Co-Applicant).

2022-2024: Women and Gender Equality Canada; $470,000 - “Successful initiatives to address intimate partner violence against women and girls in Alberta's Black communities” (Co-Applicant).

2021-2026: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada; $5 million "Black Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub" (Co-lead, Central Region).

2021-2025: Queen Elizabeth II Canadian Research Fund; “On the path of social responsibility and global leadership” (Co-Applicant).

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)

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).

Scholarly Activities

Research - “I am because we are - Amplifying Sub-Saharan African immigrants’ resilience and ability to thrive”: Partnership for Research with African Newcomers

2022-05-01 to 2027-04-30

An interdisciplinary partnership of researchers, professionals, and organizations in four Canadian cities dedicated to enhancing sub-Saharan African immigrant and refugee (SSAI) settlement and integration. Consisting of 3 key research projects, knowledge mobilization activities, and training and mentoring opportunities this project will produce outcomes across 7 themes: 1) Pre-arrival information (of and for migrants); 2) Gender relations and intimate partner violence; 3) Parenting and children; 4) Youth and systems (schools, criminal justice, social services); 5) Entrepreneurship 6) Financial literacy; and 7) Employment and training.

PRAN Website

Research - African Immigrant and Refugee Families’ Resilience in Transnational Contexts: A Pan African Collaboration for Excellence (PACE) Research Agenda

2018 to 2021

PACE is a new University of Alberta-based interdisciplinary, international initiative between scholars, policymakers, service providers and communities that seeks to build capacity for research and scholarly output, graduate training and community engagement related to Africans globally. PACE focuses on research collaborations that engage the diversity of histories, cultures and conditions of life Africans embody, the dimensions of social inequality largely rooted in cultural formations, colonization and capitalist expansion, including their experiences of migration and displacement within and outside the continent. PACE also invites comparative research that could be mutually beneficial to Africans and other populations. Drawing from the collective expertise of a rapidly growing network of partners, PACE seeks to generate significant capacity for broader collaboration among partners in academia, public agencies, civil society and community to achieve the above objectives.

PACE Website

Research - Transforming gender relations among African immigrants in Alberta - A participatory action study

Understanding Gender Relations in African Immigrant Families: A Participatory Action Research (PAR) Sub-Saharan Africans (SSA) are one of the fastest growing populations of newcomers in Canada, but they remain largely under-researched. Often overlooked in the existing literature are the ways in which gender relations mediate migration and settlement. Yet, they are a crucial determinant of Africa immigrants' capacity to transit and integrate into Canada, especially as gender relations are likely to undergo significant shifts as immigrants settle in host countries.Gender relations shape decision making, parenting, ties to extended family, access to resources, and relationships with service providers–these are critical aspects of family life that affect men and women differently in post-migration contexts, such as Canada is for those who come here from away. Our study drew from all these stakeholders to generate relevant information and strategies to enhance gender relations within African immigrant families, which in turn has implications for several domains, such as social opportunities and networks, employment, parenting, and safety.

Celebration of Research: Gender Relations

Featured Publications

Black entrepreneurship in Western Canada: the push and pull factors

Okeke-Ihejirika, P.E., Nkrumah, A., & Amoyaw, J.

Journal of Global Entrepreneurship. 2023 October; 13 (17)

Exploring intimate partner violence from the perspective of African men: A meta-synthesis

Okeke-Ihejirika, P., Salami, B., & Amodu, O.

Journal of Aggression and Violent Behaviour. 2022 August; 7 (1):57-67

Intimate Partner Violence Interventions within Immigrant Populations: A Scoping Review of the G7 Nations, including Canada

Okeke-Ihejirika, P., Tetreault, B., Punjani, N., & Olukotun, M

Canadian Ethnic Studie. 2022 April; 54 (2):67-97

Pathways to Help-Seeking and Mental Health Service Provision for African Female Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexualized Gender-Based Violence.

Yohani, S., Okeke-Ihejirika, P.

Women and Therapy.

Support Programs for Women Survivors of Sexualized. Gender-Based Violence From African Conflict Zones: A Contextual Review.

Okeke-Ihejirika, P., Yohani, S., McMenemy, C

SAGE. 8

Transnationalism, parenting, and child disciplinary practices of African immigrants in Alberta, Canada

Alaazi, D., Salami, B., Yohani, S., Vallianatos, H., Okeke-Ihejirika, P., Nsaliwa, P.

Child Abuse & Neglect. 86