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Dr. Shiuli Vanaja

Assistant Professor, Social Science

Teaching

Courses

Dr. Shiuli Vanaja is an applied microeconomist specialising in development economics, behavioural economics, and resource economics with a special focus on gender.

Before joining NLSIU, she worked as an assistant professor at Azim Premji University’s School of Arts and Sciences. In this role, she has taught various economics and interdisciplinary courses to a diverse and mixed undergraduate student body. She is also currently working with the team at the Centre for Science and Environment on the Survey of Working India Report 2025.

She is particularly fascinated by social and cultural institutions, practices, and norms that shape behavioural patterns and influence choices in societies like India. Most of her research questions arise from observing the contradictions and problems that prevent improvement in people’s quality of life. After identifying these research questions, she employs econometric methods to analyse empirical data and devise policy recommendations. In her PhD research, she examined various aspects of household access to drinking water in Jharkhand, focusing on the role of women, by collecting field data from surveys conducted in 30 villages over 18 months. Post PhD, she has primarily been engaged in two research projects: one analysing constraints on female labour force participation in urban areas and the second on forest rights, forest-based livelihoods, and social networks of tribal groups in central India.

Education

  • PhD, Cornell University
  • MPhil, Jawaharlal Nehru University
    MA Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University
  • BA (Hons.) Economics, Banaras Hindu University

Publications