Urooj Mukhtar Chandani

I have pursued my undergraduate degree in Economics from Lahore University of Management Sciences (Pakistan) and two graduate degrees, namely MSc. Development Studies from School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK and Ed.M. in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University. I have also recently completed my teacher preparation program from Alder Graduate School of Education and in the process of finalizing clearing pre-requisites to obtain my pre-credential for teaching Mathematics.

I am interested in researching similar school and classroom level factors contributing to increased enrollment and attainment of quality of education at the primary and secondary level of education within developing countries as well as underdeveloped regions of developed countries due to issues of race, social justice and income divisions. I want to base my work within the larger field of Economics, a foundation that my background provides. I am interested in the areas of educational equity/equality, policy analysis, school reform, and teacher and school evaluation and improvement. Methodologically, I am interested in collecting and analyzing quantitative data, longitudinal and meta-analysis and comparative studies.

In the future, I would like to teach at a university as a full-time career but also engage in research with local, national and international development agencies in parallel. I would also like to teach Mathematics at the high school level.

Curriculum Vitae

Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY

Master of Education in International Education Development

September 2015 - May 2017

Thesis: ‘Impact of physical infrastructure on primary school completion rates in Pakistan’, an OLS regression analysis using STATA across 131 districts of Pakistan. Findings suggested the importance of school physical infrastructure on girls’ completion rate, whereas factors other than infrastructure, such as gender parity score better explained boys’ primary completion rates.

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London, UK

Master of Science in Development Studies

September 2012

Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore, Pakistan

Bachelor of Science (Honors): Major in Economics

May 2009

RESEARCH:

Research and Information System for Earthquake – Pakistan (RISEPAK), LUMS, Lahore, Pakistan

Volunteer

December 2006 – March 2008

• Conducted field work (quasi-quantitative surveys) and performed data entry to ascertain the progress of the rehabilitation process for the 2005 earthquake.

Intelligent Healthcare Systems, project between LUMS and MIT, Lahore, Pakistan

Research Assistant

June – July 2008

• Carried out secondary research to ascertain the prevalence of tuberculosis in the province of Punjab

PRESENTATION:

• Chandani, U. M. (2017, Mar.). Impact of physical infrastructure on primary school completion rates in Pakistan. Paper presented as part of Gender & Education committee at the Comparative and International Education Studies (CIES) 2017 conference, Atlanta, GA.

• Recipient of Aga Khan Foundation International Scholarship Programme, 2011 – 2012
• Received 100% HEC-USAID scholarship in Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)