Dr. Pempho Chinkondenji’s research focuses on school (re)integration of student mothers, pregnancy-related education policies, and the relationship between gender, education, and development in Southern Africa. With emphasis on African and African diaspora populations in primary, secondary, and higher education contexts, Pempho’s scholarship draws from interdisciplinary fields to address structural inequalities within educational policies and practices. In framing this work, her scholarship draws from post/de-colonial frameworks and African feminist thought to interrogate gender and power dynamics in education and development spaces.

Pempho is a co-founder of Loving Arms Malawi (LAM), a nonprofit founded in 2014 that supports rural girls’ education and raises awareness about sexual violence in Malawi. She has taken the lead at LAM designing and facilitating sensitization campaigns and educational programs that support women and girls’ education.

Pempho obtained a Master of Arts degree in Cross-cultural and International Education from Bowling Green State University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication from African Bible College in Malawi.

In Fall 2023, Pempho will join the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks as an assistant professor in Qualitative Research Methods in Education. Her appointment is in Educational Foundations and Research within the College of Education and Human Development. [6-23]

Email: pempho.chinkondenji@und.edu