About

Mary Mendenhall is an Associate Professor of International and Comparative Education and Director of the George Clement Bond Center for African Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her work examines contemporary educational practices and policies affecting students, teachers, and communities living amidst displacement. She focuses particularly on the lived experiences of displaced individuals, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa, employing longitudinal, participatory, and qualitative approaches to critically understand and learn from these populations. As a multidisciplinary scholar engaging with anthropology, policy studies, and sociology, she utilizes critical and social justice frameworks to identify and conceptualize the need for more equitable, fair, and robust policies and approaches to improve teaching and learning in displacement contexts. Her research spans refugee camp, urban, and resettlement settings and involves collaboration with diverse organizational actors including community-based organizations, non-governmental organizations, national governments, and United Nations agencies. Her work has received funding from Columbia World Projects, Education International, the European Union, IDEO, the LEGO Foundation, UNHCR, and the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Mary Mendenhall completed her doctorate in International Educational Development in 2008 at Teachers College, Columbia University, specializing in International Humanitarian Issues. She also holds a master’s degree in higher education administration from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Ohio University.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Pedagogy
• Psychology
• Social Science
• Mathematics education
• Mathematics
• Social psychology
• Public relations
• Criminology

Selected publications

• Internal Displacement and Education

  2026-04-02

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Internally displaced children and youth face significant barriers to accessing quality education, despite the clear protections outlined in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and international human rights frameworks. This chapter examines the educational challenges confronting internally displaced persons (IDPs), with a focus on primary and secondary schooling. Although education is critical for learning continuity, psychosocial well-being, and protection from exploitation, it remains under-prioritized in many displacement settings. Disruption of infrastructure, loss of documentation, teacher displacement, language barriers, and lack of political will or resources often hinder educational access and quality. In contrast to refugee contexts, IDP education frequently suffers from insufficient attention and support. Nonetheless, displacement can sometimes lead to increased educational opportunities, especially in urban areas or where aid efforts are concentrated. With no comprehensive global data on IDP education, millions of children remain at risk of being left behind. This chapter is structured around three core themes—access, quality, and protection—and it calls for increased attention to how national governments and international actors respond to the educational needs of IDPs, emphasizing its vital role in fostering resilience and long-term recovery.

  PublisherDOI

• Urban Refugees’ Educational Access in Kenya: Policy Contradictions and Implementation Gaps amid National Insecurity and Rising Xenophobia

  Comparative Education Review · 2025-02-01 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  At the nexus of the global policy push for inclusion of refugees into national education systems, steady urbanization trends among refugee and migrant populations, and rising xenophobia toward refugees, our study examines how refugee, national security, and education policies intersect to help or hinder urban refugee children’s access to education in Kenya. We draw on semistructured interviews with humanitarian, government, and school-level actors and content analysis of global, regional, and national policies. Through a two-pronged theoretical framework that consists of punctuated equilibrium theory and securitization theory, we find that contradictory national policies across sectors inhibit policy implementation and urban refugees’ abilities to realize their educational rights. Our findings, culminating in a visual conceptual framework of a policy pendulum, speak to the need to examine larger national and geopolitical factors and their influences on education policies for refugee inclusion in urban areas and beyond.

  PublisherDOI

• List of Abbreviations

  Policy Press eBooks · 2024-10-23

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Conclusion

  Policy Press eBooks · 2024-10-23

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  The conclusion presents the common themes and arguments that have emerged across the chapters, and draws out their implications for practice, policy, and research. The book emphasizes the crucial role that teachers, school staff, learners, and school communities play in the resilience of education systems during crisis, and the importance of supporting teachers and educators in their critical tasks of equipping the next generation. We contend that any effort to understand and support learners and teachers in crisis-affected contexts should centre their perspective, develop a deep contextual understanding of the setting, and pursue intersectoral approaches that expand beyond the education sector. Despite considerable challenges, the studies portrayed in this book also show that it is possible to carry out rigorous research in conflict-affected and displacement contexts and the importance of telling the stories of those most affected by crises.

  PublisherDOI

• Introduction

  Bristol University Press eBooks · 2024-10-18

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• List of Figures and Tables

  Policy Press eBooks · 2024-10-23

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Conclusion

  Bristol University Press eBooks · 2024-10-18

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Researcher Commentary

  Multilingual Matters eBooks · 2024-08-09

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Teacher and Learner Well-Being Amidst Displacement in South Sudan and Uganda

  2024-10-23

  other1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Introduction

  2024-10-23

  other1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Danielle Falk

  8 shared

• Neil Boothby

  6 shared

• Yusuf Sayed

  6 shared

• Gauthier Marchais

  6 shared

• Daniel Shephard

  University of Edinburgh

  5 shared

• Lesley Bartlett

  University of Wisconsin System

  4 shared

• Sophia Collas

  Columbia University

  3 shared

• Rosemary Imonje

  University of Nairobi

  2 shared

Education

• Other

  Teachers College, Columbia University

Awards & honors

• CIES Jackie Kirk Outstanding Book Award (2025)