I am a senior associate affiliated with the Poverty, Gender, and Youth program at the Population Council, where I have worked since 1995. I am interested in a range of issues related to gender, work, poverty, and family in the developing world. Currently I am involved in studies in Bangladesh, Egypt, and Vietnam on young people’s livelihood strategies with a focus on socially and economically vulnerable populations. These studies are part of a larger program on transitions to adulthood.I combines quantitative and qualitative techniques in her research.

I am a native of Bangladesh. Prior to coming to the Population Council, I was a research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies in Dhaka. I received a Ph.D. in demography and sociology in 1988 and a master’s in public policy from the Woodrow Wilson School in 1984, both from Princeton University.