Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
- Higher Education
- School Belonging
- Labour Market
- Place, space and identity
- Decoloniality and Indigenous Methodologies
- Youth transitions and contemporary social change
- International comparative research
- Indigeneity and education
- Education policy and social mobility
I am currently a PhD researcher at the University of Bath, funded by the UKRI South West Doctoral Training Partnership (SWDTP). My research investigates spatial injustice and educational mobility in Nigerian higher education, combining policy and discourse analysis, qualitative case studies, and autoethnography to explore how place, policy, and social class interact to shape graduate aspirations and outcomes. Alongside my doctoral studies, I have worked as a Research Assistant on several interdisciplinary projects, including a major city-wide study on belonging, identity and safety in London schools, funded by the Mayor of London through the Violence Reduction Unit.
Before beginning my PhD, I completed an MRes in Education (Distinction) and an MA in Education Studies (Distinction) at the University of Bath and Nottingham, respectively. I also have a bachelor of Education in Primary Education (First Class Honours). My academic interests are interdisciplinary, spanning education, sociology, political science, and African studies, and I remain particularly invested in how education policy, both local and global, constructs categories of legitimacy, success, and failure.
Much of my research to date has focused on the lived experiences of marginalised learners, including rural students, pre-service teachers, and international students. I am also interested in the politics of higher education reform, school belonging, taecher education in higher education, labour market, and curriculum transformation, and my writing often weaves critical theory with grounded, human stories.
Methodologically, I am most at home with both quantitative and qualitative research. I have experience using SPSS, R, SQL, Power BI, Ms Excel for data analysis. I also have experience in interviews, focus groups, ethnography, multimodal analysis, autoethnohgraphy, and critical discourse analysis.
I welcome opportunities to collaborate with students and colleagues working on educational inequality, particularly from sociological, historical, or spatial perspectives. I am especially keen to support research that challenges dominant logics and opens up space for new ways of thinking about knowledge, learning, and justice.
When not working, I enjoy sharing scholarship and other opportunities on my social media, music, storytelling, and reconnecting with friends across the many places that have shaped my academic and personal journey. These days, you might find me somewhere between a journal article and a Zoom room, learning, unlearning, and always asking questions.
Education/Academic qualification
Education, Master of Research, University of Bath
3 Oct 2022 → 15 Oct 2023
Award Date: 15 Nov 2023
Education, Master of Arts, University of Nottingham
1 Sept 2020 → 1 Oct 2021
Award Date: 1 Jun 2021
Education, Bachelor of Education, University of Ilorin
1 Sept 2012 → 1 Sept 2016
Award Date: 1 Sept 2016
Education, Doctor of Education, University of Bath
1 Oct 2023 → …
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 4 Quality Education
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SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
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SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
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SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
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SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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ESRC IAA: Connected Belonging adaptation for FE/HE
Brown, C. (PI), Douthwaite, A. (Researcher) & Olaniyan, Y. (Researcher)
1/05/26 → 30/04/27
Project: Research council
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Imagined Futures: Indigenous Girls and Higher Education Access in Nigeria
Olaniyan, Y. (PI) & Donnelly, M. (PI)
1/10/24 → 3/03/25
Project: Research-related funding
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ESRC IAA - Connected Belonging pilot and impact activities with the Violence Reduction Unit (London Mayor's Office)
Brown, C. (PI), Douthwaite, A. (Researcher) & Olaniyan, Y. (Researcher)
1/05/24 → 31/01/26
Project: Research council
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Belonging, identity and safety in London schools: research underpinning London's Inclusion Charter
Brown, C. (PI), Donnelly, M. (CoI), Douthwaite, A. (Researcher) & Olaniyan, Y. (Researcher)
1/10/23 → 31/07/24
Project: Central government, health and local authorities
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Generative artificial intelligence and epistemic (in)justice: perspectives from higher education students in the Global North and South
Olaniyan, Y. D., Martins, M. O. & Al Maqrashi, R. H., 27 Mar 2026, In: Frontiers in Human Dynamics. 8, 10 p., 1790324.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Graduate Job Imaginaries and Labour Precarity: The Promise and Limits of Higher Education and Social Mobility for Rural Nigerians
Olaniyan, Y., 16 Mar 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Industry and Higher Education.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
The Connected Belonging Questionnaire (CBQ) as a Youth Voice Measure: Operationalizing an intersectional lens to engage young people
Douthwaite, A., Olaniyan, Y. & Brown, C., 16 Apr 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Youth.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
A Policy Analysis of Nigeria's University Quota System: Rurality and the Reproduction of Structural Inequalities
Olaniyan, Y., 22 Aug 2025, (Acceptance date) In: Higher Education Policy.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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A Policy Analysis of Nigeria’s University Admission Quota System: Rurality and the Reproduction of Structural Inequalities
Olaniyan, Y. D., 15 Sept 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Higher Education Policy.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access3 Link opens in a new tab Citations (SciVal)