1. Bribery, Corruption and Bureaucracy in India (Funding Partner: DAAD Germany)
In a first study of its kind in the context of India, this collaborative research project (with Dr Rajiv Verma) analyses the attitudes of the civil services aspirants toward bribery and corruption. The findings of the study have been drafted in the form of a manuscript currently under review in a leading development journal.
2. Realizing Sustainability-Driven Entrepreneurship: The case of agri-tech entrepreneurs in India (Funding Partner: DAAD, Germany)
The research project is a collaborative work with Prof Saurabh Gupta’s external PhD student from the University of Hohenheim, Germany. The research presents exploratory case studies of new entrants to agri business. The data collection is currently underway.
3. Covid-19 & long-term poverty: Evidence from rural Rajasthan
The research project is a collaborative work with Prof. Anirudh Krishna from the Duke University, USA. In this project, Prof Krishna and Prof Agrawal assess changes in structural poverty in a group of seven villages of three districts of southern Rajasthan using the Stages of Progress methodology, using a primary survey conducted by Prof. Krishna’s Team.
4. Women Contractual Workers in the Tea Plantations of Assam, India
Along with Prof. Diganta Das from the Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva Vishwavidyalaya (Assam), in this study, Prof. Dina Banerjee examines the coping (in fact, survival) mechanisms of the women contractual workers in five tea plantations of Assam. At the confluence of domestic violence, job insecurity, abject poverty, and lack of tribal status, lives of these women is a constant struggle. Data are based on an extensive fieldwork including in-depth interviews, wide-ranging observations, and several archival documents.
5. Casteism within the STEM Academia of India
Despite various Affirmative Action policies, Dalits are still severely underrepresented in high skilled occupational positions in India. This study focuses on Dalit scholars within science, technology, engineering, and mathematic (STEM) academia in India to investigate this underrepresentation. To date, 42 Dalit scholars from eminent science and technology institutes of India participated in the study. Among them 23 individuals have left STEM, a career that they strongly identified with, for various non-STEM fields. Prof. Dina Banerjee intends to find out why individuals leave their STEM careers, also the factors that promote their retention within the STEM academia.
6. Gender, Caste, Class, and Leadership in India
This research explores work-life experiences of Dalit women in India who hold important leadership positions in various organizations. Growing up at the intersection of gender, caste, and class oppression, these women represent an epitome of powerlessness. Contrarily, important leadership positions reflect power. This study explores the challenges that Dalit women encounter as leaders at the juncture of wretched powerlessness and power. Data are derived from the narratives of 91 Dalit women leaders from multiple geographical regions in India.
