Gupta and Mardon team up in the name of economics

Priyanka Gupta ’06 in Sydney, Australia.

Recent graduate Priyanka Gupta quickly made the move from student to fellow scholar when she joined Merrilee Mardon, Vandana Shiva Assistant Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and Economics, to present at a conference at the University of Sydney in Australia in early July.

Mardon and Mab Segrest, Fuller-Maathai Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies, directed Gupta’s senior honors thesis and encouraged her to take it to the next level. “We were both quite fascinated with Priyanka’s work, given its originality, so we were motivated to spend a good bit of time on various drafts of the paper,” Segrest said.

The result of all their work was a jointly authored paper, “Economic Liberalization and the Empowerment of Gays and Lesbians in India,” accepted for presentation at a conference of the International Association for Feminist Economics.

Priyanka Gupta '06 and economics professor Merrilee Mardon in Sydney, Australia.

The paper explores the role economic forces play in the well–being of sexual minorities. Gupta draws connections between economic liberations and the ability of gays and lesbians to come out to their parents about their sexuality. As Mardon became more involved with the paper following Gupta’s graduation, she offered her experience with the theoretical framework and statistical analysis.

“Priyanka’s research was very well–received at the conference, and she was able to make strong connections with senior scholars,” commented Mardon. “These connections have already been beneficial and have helped Priyanka refine her brilliant ideas, generate future research projects and also begin her own intellectual community.”

Mardon presented her own work, a paper titled “Gender and Agricultural Production in Brazil,” in which she explores the forces surrounding the small number of female landowners and property managers among commercially oriented farms.

A good entry to the world of scholarship, the conference is described by Mardon as having a “very warm and welcoming atmosphere…where participants are very willing to honestly and usefully critique the work you bring to discuss.” She noted the dialogue is enhanced by having representatives from across disciplines.

Excited about the opportunity to meet many accomplished feminist economists and share her research with them, Gupta said, “Initially I was nervous to be presenting in front of such a talented and experienced audience, but I had great guidance and was able to pull it off.”

The work of condensing a 120-page paper into a 15-20 minute presentation paid off. “I received tremendous feedback on my work, all of which has been very useful in helping me tighten my thesis,” said Gupta.

The authors will revisit the paper now. “We gained confirmation that our direction is correct in the paper, and we also learned more about the theoretical dimensions of the project,” said Mardon. They plan to submit it to the journal “Feminist Economics” in October as part of a competition to be included in a special edition about AIDS, Sexuality and Economic Development.

“I think that the IAFFE conference showed that Priyanka as an undergraduate is doing cutting edge work in her field,” Segrest said.

Gupta, who is home in Bombay, India for the summer, will be attending New York University in the fall to pursue a master’s in degree in international development.

“Conn really has been a tremendous force in helping me pursue my academic interests and going all over the world in order to achieve my goals,” said Gupta of her alma mater. “The exposure I have received at Conn is priceless and I will always rely on the skills I developed there.”