Anjali Adukia is an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. In her work, she is interested in understanding how to reduce inequalities such that children from historically disadvantaged backgrounds have equal opportunities to fully develop their potential. Her research is focused on understanding factors that influence educational decisions and the potential role for institutions, such as government agencies and nonprofit organizations, to improve child outcomes, particularly at the intersection of education and health. She examines how the provision of basic needs—such as sanitation, clothing, transportation, and justice—can increase school participation in developing contexts.
Her prior research projects have included an examination of the role of transcriptional and growth factors in cancer and organ development at Northwestern Medical School; aid with research and data collection for studies on affirmative action with The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University; and consultation with the Broadmoor Neighborhood Project in New Orleans, a collaboration involving Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, as part of rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts following Hurricane Katrina. She continues to work with non-governmental organizations internationally, such as UNICEF and Manav Sadhna in Gujarat, India.
Adukia completed her doctoral degree at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, with an academic focus on the economics of education. She was selected as a William T. Grant Scholar and as a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation postdoctoral fellow. Her dissertation was selected as the winner of the 2014 Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) PhD Dissertation Award and the 2015 Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) Jean Flanigan Outstanding Dissertation Award. Adukia received recognition for her teaching from the University of Chicago Feminist Forum. She also possesses masters of education degrees in international education policy and higher education (administration, planning, and social policy) from the same institution. In addition, she received a bachelor of science degree in molecular and integrative physiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.