Friend B. Olamuyiwa

Friend is a Doctoral Researcher and Associate Lecturer with a focus on how universities support students to move successfully from academic study into work. Her work is concerned with university students navigating key transition points, particularly the shift from higher education into early career and employment, viewed through the lens of guidance, counselling, and student support systems. Her interests have developed through experience with applied and practice-based learning contexts where students engage with real-world problems alongside their studies. She is interested in how knowledge transfer, practical experience, and structured engagement with external challenges can help students develop relevant skills, confidence, and decision-making capacity, rather than graduating with primarily theoretical preparation.

Email: [email protected]

Background

Her doctoral research focuses on guidance and counselling in public secondary schools in Nigeria, examining its impact on students’ academic performance and educational decision-making. This interest is informed by both lived experience and research, particularly the effects of limited access to structured guidance during early education and university study.

Alongside her doctoral work, she has developed a strong interest in applied student development through involvement in student knowledge transfer and exchange, as well as real-world, project-based learning initiatives. Working with students on live external challenges, and later through youth-focused community work, reinforced her commitment to guidance-informed approaches that support skill development, career clarity, and equitable transitions into work.

Research interests

• Guidance and counselling in education
• Student transitions in higher education
• Student support and employability in higher education
• Knowledge transfer in higher education
• Practice-based and applied learning

Her research interests focus on guidance and counselling as a foundation for effective student support and successful transitions within higher education. She is particularly interested in how students navigate the move from university into early career and employment, and how institutional support systems can better respond to this transition. Her work explores the role of knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange through practice-based learning, including student engagement with real-world problems and external organisations. She is interested in how applied learning experiences can support skill development, career clarity, and more equitable graduate outcomes, especially for students who may lack access to structured guidance.

Qualifications

• PhD in Education (ongoing), Anglia Ruskin University
• MSc Educational Leadership and Management, University of Portsmouth, UK
• Postgraduate Diploma in Education, National Teachers’ Institute, Nigeria
• BA Linguistics and Communication Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Memberships, editorial boards

• Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

• Student-led knowledge transfer and applied consultancy projects with external organisations through university-based initiatives, supporting real-world problem-solving, skills development, and stakeholder engagement.

Selected recent publications

Olamuyiwa, F. (2025). Examining the link between guidance and counselling programmes and academic achievement among public secondary school students in Rivers State, Nigeria. 19th Annual PGR Faculty Conference, Anglia Ruskin University.

Olamuyiwa, F. (2025). Reimagining guidance and counselling in Nigerian higher education: A transdisciplinary vision for student wellbeing and academic futures. Postgraduate Research Conference, University of East Anglia.