Doctoral Student Doreen Mushi Receives International Fellowship from the American Association of University Women

Doreen Mushi, a doctoral student in the NC State College of Education’s Ph.D. in Teacher Education and Learning Sciences’ learning design and technology program area of study, has been awarded an international doctoral fellowship by the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

The financial award aims to tackle barriers women face in education and AAUW International Fellows are selected based on their academic achievement, scholarly promise and demonstrated commitment to women and girls. 

“It is such an honor to be part of the AAUW community of scholars,” Mushi said. “This is a positive sign that my research work has the potential to impact local communities, specifically in

reducing inequities in women’s and girls’ education.”

Mushi, who is from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, plans to use her fellowship award to expand her research in the use of learning analytics to evaluate online learning environments. Specifically, she aims to investigate the use of machine-learning algorithms to track, assess and predict the academic progress of female students enrolled in computing programs in remote regions of Tanzania. 

She said she chose the NC State College of Education for her doctoral degree because of a focus on learning analytics within the learning design and technology program area of study and has enjoyed being able to learn from faculty and her peers. 

She hopes that by receiving the AAUW Fellowship she will be able to continue to develop her research and its impact. 

“Scholarships like the one I received provide international students with auspicious opportunities to fund their studies and enhance the focus and outreach of their research work,” Mushi said. “It also increases the visibility of their work and acts as inspiration for other underrepresented student populations.”