Rate My Professor Jacob Mugumbate

Jacob Mugumbate is a research student at the University of Newcastle, Australia, affiliated with the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences within the College of Human and Social Futures. He completed his PhD in Social Work at the University of Newcastle in 2017, with a thesis titled 'Disability, employment, and social justice: employment experiences of people with epilepsy in Harare, Zimbabwe,' supervised by Professor Mel Gray. Mugumbate holds Bachelor and Master of Social Work degrees from Zimbabwean institutions. Prior to his doctoral studies, he served as a lecturer in social work at Bindura University of Science Education in Zimbabwe and as Executive Director of the Epilepsy Support Foundation of Zimbabwe. His professional experience spans social work education, research, and practice in Zimbabwe and Australia.

Mugumbate's research focuses on disability, employment barriers, and social justice, particularly for people with epilepsy in Zimbabwe; the expansion of developmental social work in Southern and East Africa; and the value of African philosophies like Ubuntu in social work. Selected key publications include 'Individual resilience as a strategy to counter employment barriers for people with epilepsy in Zimbabwe' (Epilepsy & Behavior, 2017), co-authored with Mel Gray; 'The expansion of developmental social work in Southern and East Africa: opportunities and challenges for social work field programmes' (International Social Work, 2017), with Mel Gray, Kylie Agllias, and Rodreck Mupedziswa; 'Exploring African philosophy: the value of Ubuntu in social work' (2013); and the chapter 'Persons with disabilities in Zimbabwe' (2014). He has held significant roles including African Region Vice President of the International Bureau for Epilepsy (2017-2019), chair of the social work taskforce of the International League Against Epilepsy, coordinator of the African Journal of Social Work, and editor of The Social Worker newsletter for the National Association of Social Workers Zimbabwe. Mugumbate works with the Epilepsy Resource Centre in Zimbabwe and Epilepsy Alliance Africa in Rwanda and is a member of the Australian Association of Social Workers.