EfD Colombia and WinEED, hosted at the Department of Economics at Los Andes University in Bogotá, received the visit of EfD India's young researcher Nikita Sangwan in October. One purpose was to increase collaboration between researchers. Another was to facilitate for Colombian researchers to get support in doing research in Asia and apply for research funds in India.
Capacity building and strong research networks are the goals of the collaborative program WinEED. Nikita Sangwan presented her current work in the economics seminar (CEDE seminar): Social networks, Gender norms and women’s Labor Supply: Experimental evidence using the Job Search Platform. The objective of this research is to examine whether women's networks can be leveraged to change social norms about women's work and improve women's labor market outcomes in developing countries.
“It was great to present at the CEDE seminar. I received useful feedback from faculty and researchers, and it was a capacity-building experience,” said Nikita Sangwan.
Creating research networks includes learning from senior researchers about their experience in policy interaction and other experiences they have made throughout their academic careers. Nikita Sangwan, María del Pilar López (WinEED coordinator), and Jorge Bonilla (EfD Colombia director) discussed how to foster visits of young researchers to EfD Centers as one of the core pillars of the WinEED program.
Meetings with students and the MIA group (a group of students that aims to empower, make visible, and support the work of women in the field of economics) were an additional opportunity to learn about cultural and contextual differences between India and Colombia around the role of women and gender gaps. This exchange of perceptions is also useful for young researchers in advancing their careers.
By: Manuela Fonseca-Gómez