Maryam Toorawa is a DPhil student in Higher Education at the Department of Education. Her research focusses on issues of widening participation, theories of decolonisation, and subjects related to justice, equality, diversity and inclusion in student communities at universities and colleges.
Maryam completed her B.A. in International Studies at Bryn Mawr College and earned her MSc in Higher Education at Oxford University. Her master’s dissertation used the Capability Approach to evaluate how Foundation Years impacted students’ ability to take advantage of opportunities.
Her doctoral research looks to use decolonial research methods to study student experience. Before starting doctoral research, she participated in the Ambitious Futures Graduate Scheme for University Leadership (SOAS, University of London and Birkbeck, University of London) and worked in the private sector.
Qingling is a DPhil student in Higher Education and a Kwok Scholar.
Qingling’s research examines the enabling and hindrance factors in enhancing the quality of higher technical education in Africa for youth upskilling and empowerment. Her research interests encompass higher technical skills training, work-based learning, university-industry collaboration, employability, and entrepreneurship.
As a part-time learner, Qingling is a full-time practitioner in international development advancing inclusive and equitable quality higher education, with focuses on quality assurance, internationalization of higher education, skills development and youth empowerment.
Holding a Master in Public Policy Degree from Oxford (Kwok Scholar) and an MSc in Development Management (Lee Scholar) from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Qingling has worked across developing contexts in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.
Margo is a DPhil student in the Department of Education. Her research interests focus on professional and vocational education as well as social mobility and social inclusivity in the context of higher education.
Margo’s DPhil research aims to examine Master of Business Administration (MBAs) programs as a means of human capital acquisition, and potential links between generation of this type of capital and social mobility for MBA students. She wants to explore to what extent generation of human capital can lead to social movements for MBA participants, and how this may be impacted by various social inclusion and meritocratic factors.
Prior to her DPhil studies at Oxford, Margo received a first class Master’s degree (with honours) in Financial Management at the University of Warsaw, completed PGCE in Business Education at University College London, and a Master’s degree in Educational Assessment at the University of Oxford. She also spent 15 years working in investment banking where alongside her M&A work, she developed interests in professional education, on-the-job learning, and coaching.
Josie is a DPhil student, funded by an ESRC Grand Union DTP studentship.
Josie’s DPhil explores the processes involved in developing an organisational culture that is based around trauma-informed approaches in practice. Josie’s research explores the processes of organisational learning and change through the perspectives of two case study organisations that support vulnerable young people with their educational development. Through observing and documenting key stages in organisational learning and change processes, the research aims to contribute to the field of organisational learning and change, as well as aiming to provide recommendations for practice for educational organisations seeking to embed trauma-informed approaches into their practices.
Prior to her DPhil, Josie completed a BA (Hons) in English and an MA in English Literature at Oxford Brookes University. Josie gained her PGCE in Secondary (English) at the University of Oxford, and worked as an English teacher and Designated Teacher for Looked After Children at a secondary school.
Outside of her DPhil, Josie is a trustee and governor for an alternative school provision provider, and her broader research interests lie within supporting vulnerable learners, teacher training and development, and social justice in education.
Fahad is reading for a DPhil in Education (part-time). He has over fifteen years professional experience in the education sector, in particular, higher education.
He has held senior roles in staff and student development, human resources, policy and strategy. Fahad holds a BSc in Education and Science and an MBA. Prior to commencing his doctoral studies, he was elected an Academic Visitor at St Antony’s College in the University of Oxford. Fahad’s research focus is on the quality of undergraduate medical education for Qatari doctors.
Anay is passionate about education for first generation learners in remote rural and tribal India.
He loves sports, conversation about philosophy and spirituality, and flowers.
He hopes to transform the teacher education system in India after completing his DPhil at Oxford.
Title of Thesis
The Role of teachers in differentiated education in South India
Publications
Nangalia, A. (2016). The Role of English in Wastepicker Communities in Bangalore: A Grounded Theory AND Design and Implementation of English Language Teaching Program. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing.
Kamal Armanious is particularly interested in the topic of education governance to explore what is possible in developing an improved governance system for technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
There have always been various calls from different international organisations such UNESCO, ILO, World Bank, OECD etc. to develop a transformed and transformative approach to TVET. This is attractive for certain theoretical as well as practical reasons; however, one set of limitations in achieving this vision lies in the arena of governance. Mr Armanious examines an imagined better model of governance that can be developed from the principles of a new approach and wider theoretical resources with consideration to national realities where there may be very serious obstacles in the way of realising this new governance approach and hence the overall planned transformation.
Title of Thesis
Education and Training Policies in Egypt: Good Governance and Stakeholders Participation
Sizwe Mkwanazi has five years of experience working in a South African University. He was a cum laude (distinction) graduate for the Master of Technology Degree in Operations Management which he obtained from the University of Johannesburg in South Africa.
He is currently a Rhodes Scholar and passionate about entrepreneurship education and its associated research.
Title of Thesis
Teaching, Learning and Collaboration in University Led Entrepreneurship Education Ecosystems
Publications
Mkwanazi, S. & Mbohwa, C. (2017). Supplier Development Funding: Evaluating a Funding Model for South African Manufacturing Co-operatives. Proceedings of the 2017 International Symposium on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) Bristol, UK, July 24-25, 2017, 978-1-5090-3924-1/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE, pp. 671 -686
Mkwanazi, S. & Mbohwa, C. 2016: A Township Based Business Location for Migrant’s Businesses in South Africa: Cases of Xenophobia. 33rd Pan Pacific Business Conference, Malaysia: Miri Sarawak, May 25-28, 2016, ISBN: 1-931649-27-6, Paper No: 14
Mkwanazi, S. & Mbohwa, C. (2016). Supplier Development Grants as an Alternative Method of Funding to Improve the Business Performance of Sewing Cooperatives (Abstract). 28th South African Institute of Management Sciences Conference, South Africa, Pretoria, September 4-7, 2016. Abstract.
Mkwanazi, M.S., Mbohwa, C. and Nemarumane, T., 2015, December. Evaluation of the reliability performance of an inter-campus bus system. In Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM), 2015 IEEE International Conference in Singapore (pp. 1762-1766). IEEE.
Xiujuan is currently pursuing a DPhil at the Department of Education, University of Oxford and is also a Research Assistant at the department.
Her current research interests are centred on exploring the relationships between educational attainment, skills acquisition, and labour market outcomes, alongside the economics of education and knowledge production. She is a Kellogg Scholar and a Chevening Scholar.
She was previously a project team leader at the University of the West of England’s Employability and Enterprise Department. Prior to this, she worked at the University of Bristol’s Careers Service and as a manager and English teacher at New Channel Education Group. She was also previously an AGCAS Postgraduate Taught Task Group member and served as an Advisory Group member for a Universities UK international (UUKi) research project titled “What do international graduates do?”
Xiujuan was raised in Xinjiang, China and completed her undergraduate studies in Beijing. In 2013 she completed a Master of Education at the University of Bristol
Funded Research Projects
- ‘Collaborative writing in the humanities and social sciences: Negotiating the co-production of knowledge’ project. Funder: Department of Education, University of Oxford
Thesis Title
Mapping Masters students’ transition from UK universities to the global labour market: a two-part exploration
Publications
Books
- 新托福听力7天突破 7 Days to a Score of 30 in TOEFL iBT Listening, 李传伟 & 王秀娟 Chuanwei Li & Xiujuan Wang,中国出版集团中译出版社 China Publishing Group, 2015年5月1日 1st May 2015.
Book chapters
- Facer, K., Buchczyk, M., Bishop, L., Bolton, H., Haq, Z., Gilbert, J., Thomas, GI., Tomico, J., and Wang, X. (2019). Learning in the Cat’s Cradle: Weaving learning ecologies in the city. In Barnett, R. and Jackson, N. (Eds.), Ecologies for Learning and Practice: Emerging Ideas, Sightings, and Possibilities (1 ed.). Routledge.
Other
- Why work part-time while studying? The University of Bristol Careers Service website, June 2015.
- Making the most of your summer internship. The University of Bristol Careers Service website, May 2015.
- Want to work in the UK after your degree but can’t get a visa – have you tried Tier 5? The University of Bristol Careers Service website, March 2015.