Prof Mercy Kazima – Professor of Mathematics Education – University of Malawi – Numbers Matter

This week on Womanity, Dr Amaleya Goneos-Malka speaks with Professor Mercy Kazima, Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Malawi. From a lifelong fascination with mathematical logic to a career devoted to helping others experience the breakthrough of “now I understand”, Professor Kazima’s journey shows how education can build confidence, widen opportunity and contribute to national development. Her story brings together teaching, research, leadership and a determined commitment to ensuring that girls and women can claim their place in mathematics, science and academia. She has led major international research projects, served as President of the Southern Africa Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, and is a passionate advocate for girls’ participation in mathematics and science

Refusing the Ceiling on Women’s Ambition

As a girl and young woman, Professor Kazima repeatedly encountered the message that mathematics was too difficult for girls and that she had already achieved “enough”. Instead of accepting those expectations, she chose to pursue an honours degree and deepen her mathematical expertise. Her experience reveals that the most powerful barriers are not always ability or talent, but the social ceilings placed on women’s aspirations.

Believe in Your Potential Before Others See It

A central lesson in her story is the importance of defining your own dream. Professor Kazima urges girls to listen thoughtfully to advice without allowing other people’s fears or limitations to become their own. Perseverance, self-belief and clarity of purpose enabled her to continue when others questioned her choices, and remain the qualities she recommends to anyone pursuing an ambition that challenges convention.

When the First Woman Opens the Door

In 2009, Professor Kazima became the first woman Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Malawi since the university’s establishment in 1965. She describes the appointment as both a proud personal achievement and a significant public responsibility. Knowing that women and girls were watching, she wanted her leadership to make visible what had previously seemed impossible: that a woman could occupy the role, excel in it and expand the ambitions of those coming behind her.

Representation Must Become Opportunity

Visibility matters, but Professor Kazima cautions that representation alone does not automatically advance other women. Women in leadership must actively support growth, create opportunities and keep doors open, while women around them should also support those who step forward. Her international experience reinforced the power of seeing women lead, and the responsibility to turn individual success into collective progress.

Research That Changes Real Classrooms

Professor Kazima’s research moves beyond theory into the realities of multilingual classrooms, early numeracy and mathematics teacher education. One of her strongest findings is that lasting improvement cannot come from simply telling an individual teacher to teach better. Teachers need strong subject knowledge, sound pedagogy, appropriate resources and structured opportunities to observe one another, reflect together and develop as a professional community.

Equality Means More Than Getting Girls Through the School Gate

The conversation explores the many layers of educational inequality, including differences in resources, qualified teachers and learning opportunities between rural and urban schools. Professor Kazima argues that access is only the beginning. Genuine equality means asking whether girls are participating, building confidence, progressing, remaining in school and discovering what their education can enable them to become.

Making Mathematics a Space for Everyone

During eight years coordinating the Malawi National Mathematics Olympiad, Professor Kazima saw how powerful it was for schoolgirls to encounter a woman leading in a field still widely associated with boys. Bringing finalists onto a university campus helped young participants imagine a future beyond the competition itself. Her presence delivered a message as important as any mathematical solution: girls belong in this space and can lead within it.

Leadership Built on Purpose, Discipline and Integrity

Professor Kazima identifies discipline, persistence, resilience and a strong sense of purpose as the foundations of her success. For her, leadership also requires continuous learning, listening to disagreement, building shared vision and understanding the policies that govern an institution. Integrity means living by those standards, setting an example and using leadership not simply to advance oneself, but to help others grow.

A Message to Women and Girls

Professor Kazima closes with a challenge: do not let other people’s limitations define your dreams. Girls should identify what they want, believe in their potential and work to reveal it. Women should not be afraid to take up positions of responsibility, and when they succeed, they should inspire others, create room for them to grow and never close the door behind them.

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