The Institute of African Studies at Carleton University is celebrating the long-awaited start of a new research acceleration project aimed at supporting West African women in academia.
The project — titled Wurin ta na yin rubutu, which translates from Hausa to “her own room to write” — seeks to counter the institutional prejudice and cultural barriers that many women face when completing their doctoral degrees and pursuing early career advancement as scholars.
"It is a great honour to be the Principal Investigator for this project that will be hosting 17 brilliant women scholars from West Africa. It is a historic opportunity to promote a unique West African and Canadian intellectual and cultural exchange at Carleton University's Institute of African Studies. I’m excited to welcome our first six scholars to Canada. And even more delighted that they have hit the ground running, and quickly settled into their research and community partnerships."Nduka Otiono, Director, Institute of African Studies
"It is a great honour to be the Principal Investigator for this project that will be hosting 17 brilliant women scholars from West Africa. It is a historic opportunity to promote a unique West African and Canadian intellectual and cultural exchange at Carleton University's Institute of African Studies. I’m excited to welcome our first six scholars to Canada. And even more delighted that they have hit the ground running, and quickly settled into their research and community partnerships."
Thanks to support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Queen Elizabeth Scholars Advanced Scholars West Africa (QES-AS-WA) program at Carleton was first announced in April 2021.
Carleton was one of only 11 Canadian universities to receive IDRC funding through the QES-AS-WA program.
After delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges of obtaining visas or what has been described as "Visa Barrier" for African scholars, the Institute was finally able to introduce the project’s talented cohort of West African scholars to the Carleton community at a welcome reception this week in Ottawa.
Attended by faculty mentors, placement partners and guests joining both in-person and online, the reception also doubled as a launch party for QES-AS-WA Scholar Claude Winnie Pefolé Fotsing's new book, Handicapped.
As Carleton’s QES-AS-WA Scholars, the cohort will have access to research supervision, focused seminars, experiential learning, leadership and network building opportunities, and research placements with partners including the Afro Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, CODE, IMPACT-Partnership Africa and NewLife Project Inc.
School of Law and Security Studies, Babcock University
Research expertise: Corporate sustainability through succession planning; Women inclusion in West Africa
“My QES project will enhance my research experience to be eligible for a career as a consultant and professor of business sustainability and individual legacies to impact local economies and development in West Africa and diaspora.”
Department of Economics and Development Studies, Kwara State University
Research expertise: Economic growth and development with a focus on informal and informal jobs; sustainable development; unemployment; poverty alleviation
“The QES program will give me the opportunity to concentrate on improving my research and writing skills without bothering about other work-related responsibilities.”
Department of Economics, University of Ghana
Research expertise: Poverty alleviation; income and gender inequality; Food security, malnutrition and availability/access to food
“I am optimistic that after this project, I will be equipped to contribute to and transform my community through research.”
Centre d’Excellence Régional sur les sciences Aviaires (CERSA), Département de Biologie de la Faculté des Sciences, Université de Lomé
Expertise de recherche: Voies alternatives de réduction des coûts de production de la volaille par la valorisation de la farine des feuilles de manioc dans l’aliment
“Le projet QES pourra contribuer à renforcer mon expertise et ma confiance de devenir une enseignante qualifiée dans mon domaine de recherche en aviculture.”
Department of History and Political Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Research expertise: Gender relations in Asante; education in Asante; forest history
“I hope to build lasting relationships with fellow QES scholars and other scholars for research activities.”
Département de droit privé et de sciences criminelles, Faculté de Droit, Université de Douala-Cameroun
Expertise de recherche: Droits de la femme; le genre féminin et le droit camerounais
“Ce programme représente une plus-value pour ma formation personnelle, en tant que chercheuse et en tant que femme.”
To learn more about the QES-AS-WA program at Carleton, visit carleton.ca/qes