Luyolo Gqezengele is a Master of Social Science (MSS) candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Rhodes University, specialising in Medical Anthropology. His research examines masculinity and neurodivergence among young men in South Africa, exploring how neurodivergent young men negotiate identity, belonging, and socially constructed ideals of masculinity within educational, medical, and community contexts.
Drawing on ethnographic research, his work investigates how medicine, neuroscience, public health policy, and local cultural understandings shape the recognition and lived experiences of neurodivergence. By including the voices and experiences of neurodivergent young men, his research advocates for more humanising and contextually grounded approaches to disability while contributing to broader debates on disability, gender, mental health, and the decolonisation of knowledge production in the Global South.
Luyolo approaches neurodivergence as a broad spectrum of cognitive differences, including ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and other neurodevelopmental conditions. Rather than treating these as deficits to be corrected, his work examines how neurodivergence is understood, experienced, and negotiated within diverse social and cultural contexts.
Alongside his research, Luyolo is a Teaching Assistant at Rhodes University, where he is lecturing first-year Anthropology to students in the Extended Studies Unit. He is committed to making anthropological theory accessible and fostering critical engagement with contemporary social issues.
Before pursuing postgraduate research, Luyolo built a career in digital communications and strategy, holding roles as a Content Developer, Website Coordinator, Digital Project Manager, and Marketing Automation & SEO Specialist. His interdisciplinary background bridges digital practice and critical social research, informing his interest in how identities, communities, and knowledge are produced and represented across both digital and offline spaces.
In 2026, Luyolo received the inaugural Del & Doreen Gillam Postgraduate Award at Rhodes University, presented to the top Honours student entering a full-time Master's programme in the Department of Anthropology. He currently serves as the Postgraduate Representative on the Executive Council of the Anthropology Southern Africa Association (ASnA), where he represents postgraduate scholars and contributes to advancing anthropology across Southern Africa.