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By Rita Okoye
Dr Roseline Adewuyi represents a new generation of African scholars turning research into meaningful social impact.
Trained at Purdue University in French and Francophone African literature, her work explores migration, gender, and women’s agency, while challenging stereotypes in educational spaces. She is the Founder of the Roseline Initiative and a 2025 honoree on the Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) list under the Social Impact category.
In this interview, she stated that sustainable development is impossible without women. From literature to advocacy, she advocated women’s inclusion as a structural necessity in culture, education, and policy.
You work at the intersection of literature, gender, and advocacy. How did this journey begin?
I am a Nigerian scholar, gender advocate, and social educator with a PhD in French Literature and a Graduate Concentration in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Purdue University. My work explores the intersections of literature, education, and gender justice across both academic and lived spaces. Alongside my scholarship, I have remained actively engaged in global and community-facing initiatives, a combination that has led to recognitions such as being listed among the most influential people of African descent (MIPAD) under the Social Impact category in 2025.
Where did you grow up, and how did that shape you?
I was born in Jos, Plateau State, and I hail from Ogbomoso in Oyo State. I grew up in a strongly academic household, my father is a professor of French literature, and both my parents hold PhDs. Education was not merely encouraged; it was modelled daily. This environment shaped my early exposure to research, critical thinking, and the belief that learning carries responsibility beyond personal achievement.
What drew you to French studies in particular?
French was initially familiar because of my home environment, but I stayed with it because of its reach. It opened access to Francophone Africa, migration narratives, and postcolonial questions that resonated deeply with me. Over time, French became more than a language of study; it became a medium through which I could interrogate identity, power, and gender.
Where did you study, and why those institutions?
I earned a First Class Honours Bachelor’s degree in French from Obafemi Awolowo University, graduating as the best female graduating student in the Faculty of Arts. I then completed a Master’s degree in French with Distinction at the University of Ibadan, finishing as the best graduating student in the Department of European Studies. I later pursued my PhD at Purdue University in the United States, an institution that supported interdisciplinary research and global engagement. During my time at Purdue University, I was named Student of the Year in 2022.
How did your academic journey evolve over time?
My journey evolved from a focus on academic excellence alone to purpose-driven scholarship. As my research deepened, I became increasingly engaged in leadership and service, which led to opportunities such as the United Nations Graduate Study Programme in Geneva, Switzerland. At Purdue, this integration of scholarship, leadership, and impact culminated in my being named Student of the Year.
What is the focus of your doctoral research?
My doctoral research centres on French and Francophone African literature, with particular attention to migration, gender, women’s agency, and literacy. I examine literary texts that challenge the social realities faced by African women within and beyond the continent.
Why was it important for you to bring gender studies into literary scholarship?
Gender analysis allows literature to be read more honestly. It reveals silences, exclusions, and power relations that traditional literary criticism often overlooks. Integrating Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies gave my work both analytical depth and ethical grounding.
How did your academic work translate into advocacy?
The themes I studied, inequality, marginalisation, and representation were not abstract. They mirrored realities I encountered in schools and communities. At a certain point, I realised that writing about inequality without intervening in it felt incomplete. Advocacy became a way to extend scholarship beyond theory and into practice.
What initiatives have you led to address gender stereotypes?
I lead the Ending Gender Stereotypes in Schools (ENGENDERS) initiative, which works directly with students, parents, and educators to challenge gender bias in educational spaces. The initiative emphasizes early intervention and sustainable mindset change. This work has received international recognition, including my selection as a finalist for the We Are Together Prize in 2022 for gender advocacy.
What continues to drive your work today?
I am driven by the conviction that impact should accompany excellence. Recognition matters only insofar as it amplifies the work itself. My motivation remains creating sustainable change through education, research, and advocacy, particularly in contexts where gender inequality continues to shape access and opportunity.
From your research and advocacy, women appear central to nation-building beyond rhetoric. How do you see this playing out in culture, education, and policy?
Women are already central to nation-building; the challenge is recognition and structural support. In culture, women transmit values, language, and memory, often shaping national consciousness long before formal institutions intervene. In education, investing in girls and women has proven intergenerational effects on literacy, health, and civic participation. In policy, women’s inclusion shifts priorities from abstract growth to human-centered development. My work insists that women’s contributions are not symbolic but foundational, and that sustainable development is impossible without them.
What myths or limiting narratives about African women does your work most deliberately challenge, and why was it important to confront them?
One of the most persistent myths is the portrayal of African women as passive victims without agency. My research and advocacy challenge this narrative by foregrounding women as thinkers, decision-makers, and change agents within complex social systems. This framing is harmful because it strips women of voice and reduces them to objects of intervention rather than subjects of history. Confronting these narratives is essential to restoring dignity and ensuring that policies and programs are built on reality rather than stereotypes.
How do you balance amplifying women’s voices without speaking for them, particularly within academic and advocacy spaces?
The balance lies in intentional listening and ethical positioning. The work centers on strengthening platforms that foreground women’s experiences and ensure their perspectives are taken seriously. In research, this means centering women’s narratives and treating lived experience as knowledge. In advocacy, it involves collaboration rather than representation. The goal is amplification without appropriation, ensuring that women remain authors of their own stories while institutions learn to listen.
