Mashura Akilova

Residency: Columbia Global Center Athens

Research: Strengthening Refugee Service Systems and Workforce Capacity in Greece

Mashura Akilova is Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Social Work at Columbia University's School of Social Work. A scholar, practitioner, and educator, she specializes in global social welfare, child protection, migration, and forced displacement.

Akilova's academic work focuses on preparing social work practitioners for international and humanitarian settings. At Columbia University, she convenes courses in International Social Welfare Practice, Social Work Practice with Forcibly Displaced Persons, and Policy Practice, among others.

Akilova regularly consults for UN agencies and international organizations on the development of social work practice systems and education frameworks, and has trained and supervised social workers within child welfare systems across the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Balkans. Her scholarly work examines the development of the social work profession in low- and middle-income countries, with particular attention to child protection, migration and displacement.

As principal investigator and research mentor, Akilova has conducted and supervised field research across Jordan, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, and Central Asia. Her studies have examined the psychosocial needs of refugees, barriers to employment for high-skilled refugees, the impact of sports-based programs on refugee girls' empowerment, evaluation of programs for unaccompanied minor refugees, and the integration experiences of displaced communities. She is co-editor of Integrative Social Work Practice with Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Other Forcibly Displaced Persons (Springer, 2023).

As a Scholar-in-Residence at the Athens Global Center, Akilova will collaborate with community and academic partners in Greece on a project aimed at strengthening the quality of services provided to refugees and asylum seekers. Through examining existing service systems and workforce capacity across diverse settings, the project seeks to develop a co-designed training curriculum that enhances the professional capacity of both current service providers and future professionals working in humanitarian and displacement contexts.

A recipient of the CSWE Partners in Advancing International Social Work Education Award, the NASW Emerald Award, and the Steven P. Schinke Teaching Innovation Award, Akilova holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and an M.S.W. from Washington University in St. Louis. She is a founding member of the Columbia University Committee on Forced Migration and Co-Chair of the Council on Global Social Issues at the Council on Social Work Education.