Senior Research Scientist

Work, Families, & Children Research Group

Nidhiya Menon, Ph.D.

Senior Research Scientist

Nidhiya Menon is an Associate Professor of Economics at Brandeis University, and was on sabbatical at Wellesley Centers for Women for the 2010-2011 academic year. She is an empirical development economist who has worked on labor and gender-related topics in several countries of South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan), East Asia (Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia), and more recently, Africa (Kenya). Additionally, her areas of expertise include program evaluation, risk analysis, and implementation of unconventional financing schemes such as micro-finance. Her research and publications span topics in development economics, labor, and economic demography. Some of her recent work considered how the global recession has affected labor market outcomes for men and women differently, and how female-owned firms in Kenya use technology to overcome regulatory obstacles. She has been a researcher at the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, and is currently a consultant with the World Bank. She is also a Research Fellow at IZA. She holds a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from Mount Holyoke College, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Brown University.


Publications/Forthcoming in Refereed Journals:

“How Access to Credit Affects Self-Employment: Differences by Gender during India’s Rural Banking Reform,” with Yana Rodgers. Journal of Development Studies, forthcoming.

“Investment Credit and Child Labor,” Applied Economics, 2010, 42(12), 1461-1479.

“Public Programs Pare Poverty: Evidence from Chile,” with David Glick. Bulletin of Economic Research, 2009, 61(3), 249-282.

“International Trade and the Gender Wage Gap: New Evidence from India’s Manufacturing Sector,” with Yana Rodgers. World Development, 2009, 37(5), 965-981.

“Rainfall Uncertainty and Occupational Choice in Agricultural Households of Rural Nepal,” Journal of Development Studies, 2009, 45(6), 864-888.

“Learning, Diversification, and the Nature of Risk,” with Narayanan Subramanian. Economic Theory, 2008, 35(1), 117-145.

“The Relationship between Labor Unionization and the Number of Working Children in India,” Indian Economic Journal, 2007, 54(3), 133-151.

“Labor Conflicts and Foreign Investments: An Analysis of FDI in India,” with Paroma Sanyal. Review of Development Economics, 2007, 11(4), 629-644.

“Inter-dependencies in Micro-Credit Groups: Evidence from Repayment Data.” Journal of Developing Areas, 2007, 40(2), 111-132.

“Long Term Benefits of Membership in Microfinance Programs,” Journal of International Development, 2006, 18, 571-594.

“Non-Linearities in Returns to Participation in Grameen Bank Programs.” Journal of Development Studies, 2006, 42(8), 1379-1400.

“Labor Disputes and the Economics of Firm Geography: A Study of Domestic Investment in India,” with Paroma Sanyal. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2005, 53(4), 825-854.

Chapters and Articles in Edited Volumes:

“Trade Policy Liberalization and Gender Equality in the Labor Market: New Evidence for India,” Rutgers University World Affairs Review, Fall 2008, Issue 3, pp. 1-25 (with Yana Rodgers).

“Gender Inequality in the Labor Market During Economic Transition: Changes in India’s Manufacturing Sector,” in Ravi Kanbur and Jan Svejnar (eds.), Labor Markets and Economic Development. London and New York: Routledge Press, 2009, pp. 341-363 (with Yana Rodgers).

Working Papers:

“Gender and Conflict in Nepal: Testing for “Added Worker” Effects,” with Yana Rodgers. June 2010.

“Impact of the Food, Fuel, and Financial Crisis on the Philippine Labor Market,” with Yana Rodgers. August 2010.

“Spatial Decentralization and Program Evaluation: Theory and an Example from Indonesia,” with Mark Pitt. August 2010.

“Using Technology to Overcome Regulatory Obstacles in Africa: Evidence from Firms with Female Principal Owners in Kenya.” August 2010.

Ruth Harriet Jacobs, Ph.D.

Senior Scholar

Outrageous Older Woman Ruth Harriet Jacobs, 1924-2013

Ruth Harriet Jacobs joined the Center for Research on Women at the Wellesley Centers for Women in 1979. She was a professor of sociology at Boston University, chair of the sociology department at Clark University, and a distinguished visiting professor at the College of William and Mary.

Dr. Jacobs has given many talks in low-income elder housing throughout the state of Massachusetts under sponsorship of the Tenants Assistance Program of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency. The majority of her audiences are women, as women have longer lives and older women are among the poorest Americans. Her talks, Aging Outrageously and Courageously, the ABCs of Aging, and Women After Eighty: Reflecting, Advocating, Living Fully, featured advice on self care and the elderly getting the help they need.

Dr. Jacobs has also spoken throughout New England and the country at senior centers, continuing care communities, assisted living facilities, Red Hat Society meetings, and to professionals in the field of aging as requested. In addition to her presentations on aging, she has also taught memoir writing as a creative way to put our lives in perspective. She is the author of nine books including Be an Outrageous Older Woman, published by Harper Collins, and ABCs for Seniors: Successful Aging Wisdom from an Outrageous Gerontologist, published in 2006 by Hatala Geroproducts.

She taught in the Lifetime Learning programs at Brandeis University and Regis College, and Continuing Education Unit classes for psychologists, nurses, physicians, social workers, and others who care for elders. In addition to her nine books, she has contributed many chapters and articles to anthologies and professional and literary journals. Her play, Happy Birthday, read from scripts and cast from audiences, is distributed by the Wellesley Centers for Women. She has been awarded grants and contracts from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, the U.S. Department of Education, and many non-government foundations and agencies. Dr. Jacobs has received numerous awards, including one for mentoring, and has been given residence at artists' colonies. Dr. Jacobs received a B.S. from Boston University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Brandeis University.

Nancy L. Mullin, M.Ed.

Research Scientist

Nancy Mullin served as the director of both the Project on Teasing and Bullying (2000-2008) and the Preschool Empathy Project (1998-2008). Since she joined the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) in 1990, she was actively involved in projects concerned with curriculum development, teacher training, consultation and research.

Prior to joining WCW, Ms. Mullin coordinated Child Care Information and Referral services at the Child Care Resource Center in Cambridge, MA and has worked in various educational and hospital-based elementary and early childhood special education settings as teacher, trainer, consultant, advocate, and member of infant and child assessment teams.

While at WCW, Ms. Mullin conducted research-based training and consultation about bullying prevention nationally. Her work focused on bringing research and best practices about bullying prevention into schools and promotes awareness about the negative effects that bullying and related gender role stereotypes have on both school climate and student performance. Her bullying-prevention work includes several publications: Quit It!: A Teacher's Guide on Teasing and Bullying for Use With Students in Grades K-3 (1998); Selected Bibliography About Teasing and Bullying for Grades K-8: Revised and Expanded Edition (2003) and Relational Aggression and Bullying: It’s More Than Just A Girl Thing (2003).

Ms. Mullin is also a Training Director for the Olweus Bullying Prevention Group, providing national training-of-trainers in North America, training and support for state-wide networks, and training and implementation support to schools in New England. As a founding member of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Group in North America, she is also actively involved in expanding and developing materials that help to operationalize the Olweus model for US and North American Schools.

As Director of the Preschool Empathy Project, Ms. Mullin provided training, consultation, and curriculum development for early childhood caregivers. She co-authored a pilot program to teach empathy in center and home-based preschool settings and developed a revised curriculum-guide based on this work. Her work on this project both informed and integrated her efforts in the field of bullying prevention.

Ms. Mullin received a B.S. in Elementary and Special Education from Slippery Rock University and received a full fellowship from the University of Pittsburgh, where she received a M.Ed. in Special Education and Rehabilitation, specializing in Early Childhood Education.