Education
CPD, Networking Platforms, Mentorship Needed to Enhance Capacities of Women to Leadership Positions in Uganda
On Thursday 5th November, 2020, a project titled Enhancing Capacities of Women to Leadership Positions in Universities in Uganda (WOLEP) held a Dissemination Event at the Central Teaching Facility 1 (CTF1), Makerere University. The Principal Investigator (PI) WOLEP is Dr. Florence Nakamanya, Lecturer, East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development (EASHESD), College of Education and External Studies (CEES). The WOLEP team that also includes Assoc. Prof. Ronald Bisaso and Ms. Sharon Ainmbabazi recommended that Continuous Professional Development (CPD), Suitable Networking Platforms and Structured Mentorship Programmes are needed to enhance capacities of both incumbent and aspiring women leaders in Uganda’s Higher Education sector. The Dean, EASHESD, Assoc. Prof. Ronald Bisaso who was the moderator welcomed members to the dissemination and gave a preamble of the WOLEP project. The event started with a prayer led by Sr. Bernadette Lutaaya.
The event attracted a number of distinguished personalities who attended both physically and online. In attendance online were; Prof. Joy C. Kwesiga, the Vice Chancellor of Kabale University and the Guest of Honour, Prof. William Bazeyo, the Chairperson Grants Management Committee (GMC), Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (Mak-RIF), Prof. Charles Masembe, GMC Member, Prof. Fred Masagazi Masaazi,the Principal, College of Education and External Studies(CEES), Ms. Harriet Adong, Head, Communication, RIF, Prof. Monica Chibita, Dean, Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication, Uganda Christian University (UCU), Assoc. Prof. Betty Ezati, Dean, School of Education, Makerere University and GMC Member. In the physical meeting, we had the project team members, women leaders from Ugandan Universities including Makerere University, Kyambogo University, Ndejje University, Kampala International University, St. Lawrence University, Al-Mustafa Islamic College and female employees from the National Planning Authority (NPA) among others.
Dr. Nakamanya in her presentation highlighted that the project was made possible with funding from the Government of the Republic of Uganda through Mak-RIF. The PI noted that there exist leadership training programmes aimed at building capacities of female leaders in different parts of the world including Uganda. However, the numbers of women in leadership positions are still miserably low. For instance, she noted, we have only three female Vice Chancellors in Uganda and yet there are over 50 universities. Besides, the leadership training programmes provided are adhoc in nature, they are developed in the western world and adapted to African context, do not meet the current and emerging needs and largely depend on the availability of funding. This then created the need for the WOLEP project.
She enlisted the objectives the project as follows;
- To analyze the Leadership-related Training Programmes (LTPs) that women in leadership positions in universities in Uganda have attended.
- To establish the leadership-related competence profile for women in leadership positions in universities in Uganda.
- To investigate whether the existing leadership-related training programmes influence women’s aspirations and progression to leadership training positions in universities in Uganda.
- To examine women’s experiences with the existing Leadership-related Training Programmes in universities in Uganda.
- To identify the capacity needs and what works for women to occupy leadership positions in universities in Uganda.
The WOLEP project employed an interpretive approach to research because the team wanted to get an in-depth understanding of the issue that was under investigation. The participants of the project included the incumbent and aspiring female leaders. The Incumbents comprised of senior female leaders like Vice Chancellors, the middle leaders (Deputy Principals and Deans) and the lower leaders such as examination and research coordinators. The aspiring female leaders constituted any female academic member of staff in the university. The participants were purposively selected on the basis that they had ever attended a leadership-related training programmes and were drawn from the different categories of Ugandan Universities. The universities were categorized into public, private religious-affiliated and private-for-profit universities. Data was collected through interviewing 29 participants comprising of 2 senior female leaders, 9 middle female leaders, 9 lower female leaders and 9 aspiring female leaders.
The findings of the study include;
Objective One, where different Leadership-related Training Programmes (LTPs) were analyzed: It was discovered that the participants had attended international leadership-related programmes. Whereas the senior female leaders had participated in programmes organized by the Commonwealth, Higher Education Resources Services, Inter-University Council of East Africa, RUFORUM, the middle female leaders highlighted trainings such as the International Deans’ Course adn COACH AFRICA workshops in South Africa and Finland. Importantly, the international trainings were attended by mostly participants at all levels of leadership from the public universities. The middle female leaders had attended national leadership-related trainings particularly those organized by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) whereas the lower and aspiring female leaders had mostly participated in internal institutional trainings.
Objective Two, which was about the competence profile of female leaders: She said that during the interviews, the participants shared competences related to leadership and management, teaching and research. Specifically, competences related to pedagogy, curriculum, research, social challenges, customer care, ICT, confidence building, teamwork, conflict resolution among others. She asked participants to reflect on how they teach and supervise graduate students in higher education.
Objective Three, on whether the existing LTPs influenced women’s aspirations and progression to Leadership: The female leaders shared that the training enabled them to acquire knowledge, share experiences, provided opportunities for personal professional development and networking. In-depth analysis had confirmed that the female leaders’ experiences with the existing LTPs influenced their desire to aspire and progress to academic and administrative leadership positions in Ugandan universities. For example, a female senior leader serving in a public university had said that “we are always given an opportunity to share experiences in the leadership training programmes. I ask colleagues and they would tell me how to solve it. I would get tips that I learn which makes me perform better in my work.”
Objective Four focused on experiences with LTPs: The focus was on the programme structure, stakeholder involvement and post-training experiences. The participants shared that the content provided in the trainings was too broad, theoretical and delivered in a very short period of time and yet very costly. She noted that there was limited stakeholder involvement, the training needs analysis was hardly done and there was unclear selection process. It was also found out that most of the LTPs that female leaders attend in Ugandan universities lacked the aspect of mentorship and did not make follow-ups. In view of this, achievement of the intended outcomes was constrained.
Objective Five identified the Capacity Needs for female leaders: The findings showed that the female incumbent and aspiring leaders would like to be capacitated in areas including networking and mentorship, research and publishing as well as leadership and management skills.
The study concluded that:
- Female leaders had attended International, National, and Institutional LTPs.
- The competence profile of female leaders comprised of leadership and management, teaching and research skills developed from the training programmes.
- LTPs had influenced women’s desire to aspire and progress to leadership positions.
- LTPs were too costly, theoretical with broad content, with limited stakeholders’ involvement, no follow up and lacked mentorship opportunities.
- Networking, mentorship, research and publishing as well as leadership and management skills were the capacity needs of incumbent and aspiring female leaders in Ugandan Universities.
The study recommended that:
- Continuous Professional Development should be rolled out for both incumbent and aspiring female leaders. The modularized programme that has been developed out of the current study will span a reasonable period of time and will be flexibly delivered using blended training approaches at the East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development, Makerere University.
- Universities should initiate sustainable networking platforms that provide avenues for incumbent and aspiring leaders to share experiences, challenges and new insights on how to perform their duties through periodic meetings and reflective seminars that could be flexibly organized or delivered using online technologies and social learning platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Zoom etc.
- The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and other relevant stakeholders should collaboratively initiate and support robust structured mentorship programmes for women in higher education where those with rich experience are invited to share their life stories which could be published in different formats like videos and used to continually nurture aspiring leaders and equally enhance women’s progression to leadership
The study proposed an intervention/solution/programme informed by a range of capacity needs that were highlighted by women at the different levels of leadership. The two modules developed to be flexibly delivered are:
- Leadership and Management in Higher Education
- Career Advancement of Women in Higher Education
The PI shared a quote by Sheryl Sandberg:“If more women are in leadership roles, we’ll stop assuming they shouldn’t be”.
In her welcome remarks, Prof. Joy Kwesiga the Guest of Honour congratulated the project team on the important research in which she participated and that she had been looking forward to the general research results. She highlighted that there was a minimal number of females that participate in higher education leadership. She shared her past experience while serving in Makerere University and expected the findings to trigger reflection on how to increase the number of women in leadership positions through established policies, support mechanisms and practices. Prof. Kwesiga noted that when the only female presidential candidate Nancy Kalembe said that females are going to break the glass ceiling and that becoming president was one of them, her mind was drawn to the importance of gender perspectives in leadership and management, in teaching, and research. Finally, she said she was glad that the study had been successfully conducted and that it would open up into a wider field so that we can have specialists.
The Principal CEES, Prof. Fred Masagazi Masaazi in his remarks, congratulated the lead researcher Dr. Nakamanya Florence and the research team upon attaining the milestone. He said that, whereas research was a boost to our academic endeavors, it was also a springboard for opening up space for national development. He further said that he strongly believed that the findings would go a long way in informing gender policy and other aspects related to gender and Higher Education. He thanked the Dean, East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development (EASHESD), for the support in ensuring that the School contributes to the body of knowledge, and for impacting on the College’s visibility. He further thanked the Mak-RIF team for the support and for identifying and funding the special area of study on enhancing capacities of women to leadership positions in universities. He concluded by noting that young researchers like Dr. Nakamanya were pillars for the University’s development.
Prof. Charles Masembe, Member of the Mak-RIF Grants Management Committee (GMC) in his speech welcomed the participants noting that they had been drawn from different universities and organisations. He thanked them for making time to attend the dissemination. He thanked the researchers and innovators for their tireless efforts. In a special way, he thanked the Government of Uganda for the continued support to Makerere University and for funding research through Mak-RIF. He further said that for a country to move from lower to middle income status, it needs research. In addition, he said that Mak-RIF is aimed at complementing available research funding to address unfunded priorities critical to accelerating development across different sectors of the economy in Uganda. He was happy that the WOLEP project had unearthed the capacity needs of the different categories of female leaders. He implored the project team to partner with a range of stakeholders to address the capacity needs as they roll out the project’s proposed training programme.
Prof. William Bazeyo Chairperson Mak-RIF Grants Management Committee (GMC), thanked the organizers for the Dissemination. He highlighted that this was the first dissemination he had attended ever since the fund started. He congratulated Dr. Florence Nakamanya and her team and thanked the Principal, Professor Masagazi for supporting research efforts in CEES. He noted that he believed in negotiation and he challenged every researcher to become a negotiator so as to ensure research uptake by the policy makers. He noted that since Makerere has the capacity and the negotiation skills, it should do better. He acknowledged the contributions of other teams on RIF1 and RIF2 and announced that RIF3 had been approved. He emphasized that whereas RIF1 was UGX 30 billion, RIF2 was UGX 30 billion and COVID-19 Response UGX 9.3 billion, he had negotiated for a greater allocation of funds for RIF3 and it will be higher, if not double.
He informed participants that he was also negotiating on how Makerere University (Mak) can support other universities to do research. He cited an example of a model university in Malaysia which was leading in research and had been funded to support research and capacity building in other public universities. Furthermore, he re-echoed the need of researchers to reach out to stakeholders and different ministries to share research findings. He called upon all researchers to begin writing policy briefs. He finally set a challenge to his colleagues on the GMC to start a programme to train researchers on how to write policy briefs.
Article by John Nuwagaba, CEES
Education
Makerere University Signs MoU with Fukui University to enhance Research, Teacher Development and STEM Education
Education
Makerere Vice Chancellor tasks CEES to re-position into Africa’s leading Centre for Graduate Training and Education Research
“Graduate Training, especially PhD production, is at the heart of Makerere University’s strategy for growth, national transformation and Africa’s development,” stated Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, the Vice Chancellor.
The Vice Chancellor made the pronouncement during his visit to the College of Education and External Studies (CEES) on Tuesday 16th June 2026. The meeting which started at 2:00pm, focused on strengthening graduate training and research at Makerere University, and positioning CEES as the leading centre for graduate training and educational research in Africa.
This discourse comes at a time when Pan-Africanists, the African Union, governments, universities and research institutions, are pushing for a more dominant role of Africa in global research and development. To realise this agenda, one of the key targets involves the training of 1 million PhDs in the next 10 years.
The strategic plan stipulates the transition of Makerere University into a research-led institution, a strategic direction that positions the University, to significantly contribute to Africa’s development and transformation through graduate training, research, innovations and community impact.
“Africa must train 1 million PhDs in the next 10 years. Makerere University must lead and make its impact. Graduate Training is our core strategy for the future. We must significantly increase graduate student numbers. We have the expertise and academic strength to train many more, with strict adherence to quality assurance and academic standards,” said the Vice Chancellor.
The Vice Chancellor’s engagement with faculty and staff on PhD training is focused on the need to consolidate the gains so far achieved. At the 76th graduation ceremony of Makerere University (24th to 27thFebruary 2026), a total of 213 students graduated with PhDs. Out of these, the College of Education and External Studies presented the highest number, a record 27 PhD graduates.
Acknowledging the positive contribution of CEES to PhD training, the Vice Chancellor’s engagement with the college leadership, faculty, researchers and staff was aimed at leveraging this strength to support higher education development in Africa.
At the College level, the meeting brought onboard, Prof. Anthony M. Mugagga-Principal, Prof. Ronald Bisaso-Deputy Principal, Associate Prof. Mathias Mulumba Bwanika, Dean-School of Education, Dr. Harriet Nabushawo, Dean-School of Distance and Lifelong Learning, Associate Prof. Jude Ssempebwa-Dean, East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development, Heads of Departments, Teaching and Research Centres, Coordinators of Graduate Training, Senior faculty, researchers and staff.
At the University level, given the centrality of CEES to Makerere University’s mission of advancing knowledge, building capacity, and transforming lives, the meeting attracted the following University Officials who enriched the discourse on graduate training and research: Prof. Henry Alinaitwe- Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance and Administration), Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi-Academic Registrar, Prof. Julius Kikooma-Director, Graduate Training, Prof. Robert Wamala-Director, Research, Innovations and Partnerships, Prof. Sylvia A.N. Nannyonga-Tamusuza-Head, Grants Administration and Management Support Unit (GAMSU), Associate Prof. William Tayeebwa-Managing Editor, Makerere University Press, Dr. Margaret Nagwovuma-representative from the Makerere University Technology and Innovation Centre, Prof. Fredrick Jones Muyodi-Head of the Makerere University Writing Centre, Mr. Andrew Mwesigwa-from Makerere University Library, and Mr. Gordon Murangira-Personal Assistant to the Vice Chancellor.
Vice Chancellor’s presentation to CEES
Prof. Nawangwe appreciated the College for championing the Competence-Based Education (CBC) agenda at Makerere University, other Universities in Uganda, and in the region. He commended the School of Education for training staff in teaching pedagogy, which is a core component in the delivery of teaching and learning at Makerere University.
Prof. Nawangwe’s presentation highlighted the following: Graduate training as a core strategy, the central role of CEES and teachers to national transformation, enabling increase in graduate student enrolment through online and flexible learning (IODel), adherence to quality assurance and academic standards, positioning Makerere as a continental leader, resource mobilization and sustainability.
CEES and national transformation
The Vice Chancellor reiterated the central role of preparing quality teachers and education professionals. “Teachers are critical to the nation. If we transform teachers, we transform the nation. Quality teacher education must be at the heart of what we do,” he stressed.
Online and Flexible Learning
Acknowledging the reality that many teachers and working professionals cannot leave their jobs to study, the Vice Chancellor called for the expansion of online and blended programmes. “Online and flexible learning will allow more people to study while staying where they are. This will significantly increase access and enrolment,” he said.
Resource mobilization and Sustainability
Submitting that growth requires adequate resources, the Vice Chancellor called upon staff and researchers to attract more partnerships, grants and subscriptions. He stated that increased enrolment and innovative programmes will strengthen sustainability.
Envisioning the desired future
According to the Vice Chancellor, if the College of Education and External Studies implements the aforementioned strategies, more PhDs will be trained, more teachers and professionals will be upskilled, online programmes will lead to greater access to education, stronger research output and impact will be registered, and as such, Makerere University will be recognized as Africa’s graduate training hub.
CEES Principal presents report on graduate training and research
Renowned for his consultative and team-building approach, Principal, Prof. Mugagga engaged staff and the various research teams, during the preparation for the Vice Chancellor’s visit to the College. Consequently, on 14th May 2026, staff and researchers, convened in the CEES Smart Room, to discuss and provide input, into the proposed College’s presentation on research and graduate training. The members of staff agreed that the College’s presentation to the Vice Chancellor should feature the following: Graduate Training and Research at CEES, Research Priorities, Schools, Institutes and Centres, CEES Research and Graduate Training Strategy, Journals at CEES, the Books Project, Funding Challenges, Teaching, Learning and Quality Assurance, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and Networking.
Principal presents CEES Research Priorities
Welcoming the Vice Chancellor and his delegation, the Principal mentioned that 16th June 2026, will be remembered as a special and historic day at CEES, with respect to the execution of graduate training and research.
Pleased to share a detailed report with input from staff and various research teams, the Principal outlined the following research priorities:
- Graduate Training and Research (GTR)
- Competence Based Education (CBC)
- Inclusive Education
- Teacher Wellbeing and Mental Health
- Educational Technology
- Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
- Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
- Early Childhood Education and Development
Artificial Information (AI) Centre, and Development of Play materials for Children
On behalf of the College, Prof. Mugagga expressed the commitment of CEES to set up an AI Centre, as well as, developing play materials that are crucial in the children’s formative years, early child education, nursery and primary school levels. To appreciate this strategic approach, Prof. Mugagga called upon the Vice Chancellor and the University officials to read the works titled: The Challenges of Play materials in rural Uganda.
CEES Research and Graduate Training Strategy
The Principal presented that the College had embarked on a wide plan to build a robust research-culture promoting practitioner action research and aligning graduate programs with macro policies such as the Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) implementation, inclusive education, teacher well-being and mental health, the National Teacher Education Policy 2019, Uganda’s Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy 2026, the National Development Plan (NDP IV), Uganda’s Vision 2040 agenda, plus other relevant global policies such as the Sustainable Development Goals-UN SDGs Agenda, and the Makerere University Strategic Plan.
Research Institutes and Centres
The Principal reported that the following institutes and centres are crucial in the promotion of graduate training activities and research: Makerere Institute of Teacher Education and Research (MITER), Centre for Teaching and Learning Support (CTLS), Makerere University Early Childhood Care and Education Research Centre, The Centre for Wisdom Pedagogy (CWP), The Centre for Lifelong Learning (CLL), and the Institute of Open, Distance and e-Learning (IODel).
Research Outputs and Projects
The Principal outlined some of the following research outputs and projects: Competence-Education Blueprint designed to transition higher education regulators and universities toward CBE in East and West Africa, MiSet Project-Mindset Change and Social Economic Transformation from the People’s World, PhD Pedagogy and Mapping, Department of Adult and Continuing Research Seminar Series, Online postgraduate diploma in Education and the ongoing curriculum development steps, CEES and the National Council for Higher Education are implementing the TRUCE project (funded by the European Union) to transition East and West African Universities to Competence Based Education, Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) Exhibition, and School Stakeholders Workshop.
Book Projects and Journals at CEES
The meeting noted in partnership with the Makerere University Press (MakPress) several books on different disciplines have been authored by CEES faculty members, and old journals in the Education Journals are being revitalized. The MakPress scans the old journals, applies for the ISSN, and ensures that articles are given the digital object identifier.
The College Journals include:
Makerere Journal of Higher Education (MAJOHE) (ISSN: 1816-6822 [print]; 2707-6113 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/majohe
Makerere University Journal of Research and Innovations in Teacher Education (RITE) https://rite.mak.ac.ug/editorial-board
The College is also in advanced stages of re-establishing the Uganda Journal of Education.
Key Challenges affecting graduate training and research at CEES
The Principal reported that the desire for CEES to become a graduate training hub is constrained by the following factors: Low staffing levels, financial constraints, and overwhelming workload for staff with respect to teaching, learning and supervision.
Low staffing levels: CEES faces a challenge of under-staffing in both academic and administrative units.
Financial constraints: “The budget is inadequate. We are running the same budget for the last five years, yet the College has new programmes, and subject areas, which have raised the undergraduate student numbers by almost 1000 more students,” he revealed.
Overwhelming supervision workload: Each supervisor at CEES has over 16 PhD and Masters’ students to supervise. The overwhelming workload for staff in teaching and learning affects time dedicated to research and supervision. In addition, “Graduate supervision is not officially considered as a teaching load except during promotion or at post retirement contract.”
Wrapping Up
After listening to the detailed presentation by the CEES Principal, and the brief reports from the ten (10) offices/entities, which indicated the existing working relationship with the College, the Vice Chancellor congratulated the College leadership and staff upon the milestones in teaching and learning, research, graduate training, teacher education, and knowledge transfer partnerships.
Responding to the issue of graduate financing, the Vice Chancellor revealed that he had noted the concerns raised in the College’s presentation, and pointed out that the views therein will enrich his submission to government as he puts across a strong case for funding.
The Vice Chancellor informed the faculty members at the College that the University Management had embarked on discussions and consultations aimed at providing incentives to staff who supervise PhD students. “The issue of incentivizing staff who supervise PhD students is being discussed by the University Management. We will prioritize this key component of graduate training,” he said.
On the issue of limited space for graduate students, and their supervisors, the Vice Chancellor informed the meeting, that this was being addressed through the USD 8 million investment building for graduate training and research (being constructed opposite Lumumba Hall of Residence).
Vote of Thanks
The Deputy Principal, Prof. Ronald Bisaso, expressed the readiness of the College to continue working with the University leadership, staff and stakeholders to align CEES programmes with the University-led agenda.
“We commit to do much better. We commit to engage with the various Offices to propel the Makerere University research-led agenda. We will continue to be intentional on graduate training and research,” he said.
East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development
The meeting climaxed with a brief tour the Vice Chancellor, and the University Management Members, to the East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development. Spearheaded by the Dean, Associate Prof. Jude Ssempebwa, the engagement at this particular entity, focused on gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of the mandate of the East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development in graduate training and research.
Conclusion
The meeting which underscored the centrality of the College of Education and External Studies (CEES) to Makerere University’s mission of advancing knowledge, building capacity, and transforming lives ended at 6:00pm.
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