Dr. Doyin Coker-Kolo is a Professor and Coordinator of the Educational Leadership program in
the School of Education at Indiana University Southeast (IU Southeast) in New Albany, Indiana.
She twice received the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship (2022 and 2025) and the
Fullbright -Hayes Award (2006 and 2009). She was awarded the Indiana University Southeast
Distinguished Senior Faculty Research and Creativity Award in 2021. As a faculty and
administrator in higher education for over two decades, she has been involved in many courses,
programs, curriculum developments, and grant-funded projects. In the past six years, she has
been a primary investigator (PI) or CO-PI of external grant awards totaling over a million dollars
at IU Southeast. Dr. Coker-Kolo’s research area examines the intersection between diversity,
leadership, and teacher education. Specifically, she focuses on Diversifying the Teacher
Workforce, Program and Unit accreditations, Gender-based leadership in the academy, Service-
Learning pedagogy, Human Trafficking, Brain Drain, and Higher Education in Sub-Saharan
Africa.
Professor Coker-Kolo received her bachelor’s in educational administration from the University
of Lagos, Nigeria. Her master’s and Doctoral degrees (also in educational administration) were
from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina. Her professional affiliations
include the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), the American
Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), the Association of Global South
Studies (AGSS), the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME), and African
Studies Research Forum (ASRF). Dr. Coker-Kolo teaches graduate courses (online and face-to-
face) in Educational Leadership including Introduction to Educational Leadership, School
Personnel Management, and School-Community Relations. She also directs the practicum for the
educational leadership program.
Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Project between Professor Doyin Coker-
Kolo of Indiana University Southeast and Drs. Judith Kahamba, Respikius
Martin, Tumaini Alan and Angela Jesse in the College of Social Sciences and
Humanities at Sokoine University of Agriculture
Project Title: Bridging the Gender Gap in Leadership in the Academy: A Comparative Research,
Curriculum Development, and Mentoring Project at Makerere University in Uganda and Sokoine
University of Agriculture, Tanzania
This project is a follow-up to the research, curriculum development, and mentoring activities on
gender disparity in senior leadership conducted during the initial fellowship at Makerere
University (MAK) in 2022. The initial fellowship was titled “Women in School Leadership,” and
investigated barriers to women’s leadership in Secondary schools and Higher Educational
Institutions in Uganda and provided practical solutions. This current project will have a higher
education focus and include partners from two universities (MAK and SUA) and different
disciplines, for example, Social Sciences and Humanities and Gender Studies and Education. It
will also include a comparison of the data collected from previous research at Makerere
University, the oldest university in East Africa with the findings at Sokoine University of
Agriculture (SUA), a newer university in Tanzania, focusing on amplifying this issue at a
regional level. The main goal is to understand the systemic challenges that women in the
academy face in the region and develop strategies for advocacy and empowerment. An additional
goal is capacity development in research and leadership across the second university (Sokoine
University of Agriculture) in a way that is relevant to their needs.
Specifically, this project will focus on:
Research: A follow-up to the investigation and interventions conducted at Makerere
University in 2022 regarding the advancement of women in leadership in the academy to
evaluate the progress made, using on-site observations, surveys, and case studies.
Replicating the needs assessment survey conducted at Makerere at the Sokoine
University of Agriculture and comparing the data. The comparative data findings will
inform further areas of collaborations between the Fellow and colleagues at the two
institutions.
An update of the literature review.
Curriculum development: Design a curriculum for a multidisciplinary women’s
leadership workshop to promote advocacy and lay the groundwork for a future advocacy
center in one of the participating departments at the Sokoine University of Agriculture
Mentorship: Capacity building for the university in promoting leadership across the
board and mentorship in research for junior faculty and post-graduate students (male and
female) through mentoring to enhance the quality and relevance of their research and
create publishing opportunities. This will include an intensive writing mentorship
program for graduate students and junior faculty selected on a competitive basis from
across the institution. However, the model can be replicated after the fellowship.