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profile

Dorothy Bwanainsa Nkhata

Head Of Cert, Center for Educational Research and Training(CERT) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0587-3519
  • 17
    Citations
  • 3
    h-index
  • based on Scopus
Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from Scopus

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals


Brief profile


  • Dr. Dorothy Bwanaisa Nkhata is Head of the Centre for Educational Research and Training (CERT) at the University of Malawi, where she leads strategic operations to advance educational research, promote evidence-based policy and practice, and spearhead innovations with transformative potential across education systems—locally, nationally, and globally. Her distinguished career spans more than two decades of academic and leadership roles across secondary and tertiary education, with cross-cultural experience in Malawi, Tanzania, and the United States. Renowned for her scholarship and thought leadership, she has presented her research at major international and regional forums, including the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), Ethnographic & Qualitative Research Conference (EQRC), American Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences (AABSS), and University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). Her work continues to shape global discourse on educational access, equity, and leadership. Dr. Bwanaisa Nkhata holds a Ph.D. in Adult and Higher Education and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Oklahoma; a Master of Science in Secondary Science Education from Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI); a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Personnel Education and Health System Research from the Centre for Educational Development in Health, Arusha, Tanzania; and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Malawi—where she now leads transformative research and institutional innovation. Her interdisciplinary academic journey—rooted in science, education, health systems, and gender studies—deepens her expertise in student transitions, workforce development, and the design of responsive, sustainable learning environments. A methodologist by training, she applies advanced skills in multiple case study design, ecological inquiry, intersectionality-informed analysis, and systematic review and meta-analysis using R software to generate insights that inform both policy and practice. Her contributions have been recognized through numerous awards and fellowships, including the AAUW International Fellowship, the Nancy L. Mergler Dissertation Fellowship, and various research and travel grants. Today, she leads multiple funded projects and continues to leverage evidence-based approaches to shape education policy, scale impactful programs, and drive system-level transformation within Malawi and across the global education landscape.

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