(Associate Researcher, June 2025 – present)

Biography:

Pradeep Kumar Choudhury is Assistant Professor of Economics at Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and an Affiliate Associate at South Asia Institute, Harvard University, USA where he was a visiting Research Fellow in 2023-24. His research spans the field of development economics, with a focus on education. In his work, he focuses on the measurement and explanation of educational and learning inequalities, its interaction with climate, technology, and early life decisions. Besides, his work looks at private provisioning of higher education and market policies, quality and labour market concerns in higher education, and gender inequalities in STEM and labour market. Pradeep’s most recent collaborative study with University of Pennsylvania and University of Copenhagen examines how in-class smartphone bans affect student outcomes in higher education India. He has also undertaken two other collaborative research studies on mapping inequalities in education and health in India with funding support from Stanford University and Word Health Organisation (WHO). Pradeep also received the China-India Visiting Scholar Fellow grant of the Ashoka University in 2021-22 to carry out a comparative study on industrial engagement of TVET sector in India and China. Several of his works are published in leading economics, education, and development studies journals, including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Human Resources for Health, International Journal of Educational Development, Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, and Economic and Political Weekly. Pradeep’s most recent co-edited volume on COVID-19 and Education in India is published by Routledge in 2025. He graduated from University of Hyderabad and received his PhD in education economics from National University of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi.

Webpage: https://www.jnu.ac.in/content/pradeepchoudhury

RECENT PUBLICATIONS:

• Choudhury, Pradeep Kumar, and Manjuma Akhtar Mousumi. 2024. “School Choice in Rural Odisha, India: Understanding from a Multi-Stakeholder Perspective.” PROSPECTS 54(3–4):723–37. doi:10.1007/s11125-024-09694-9.
• Choudhury, Pradeep Kumar, Hrushikesh Mallick, and Amit Kumar. 2024. “Vocational Education, Skill Training and Self-Employment: Evidence from India’s Non-Farm Sector.” Journal of Vocational Education & Training 1–27. doi:10.1080/13636820.2024.2359369.
• Craveiro, Isabel, Pradeep Kumar Choudhury, Ana Paula Cavalcante De OLiveira, Alessandra Pereira, Inês Fronteira, Raphael Chança, Giorgio Cometto, Mario Roberto Dal Poz, and Paulo Ferrinho. 2024. “Impacts of Industrial Actions, Protests, Strikes and Lockouts by Health and Care Workers during COVID-19 and Other Pandemic Contexts: A Systematic Review.” Human Resources for Health 22(1):47. doi:10.1186/s12960-024-00923-y.
• Choudhury, Pradeep Kumar, and Amit Kumar. 2024. “Socioeconomic Inequality in Accessing Professional Higher Education in India: New Evidence from a Household Survey.” The Indian Economic Journal 00194662241260812. doi:10.1177/00194662241260812.
• Pradeep Kumar Choudhury. 2024. “Student Loans in Financing Engineering Education: Some New Evidence from India”, Journal of Educational Planning and Administration, 2024, 38 (3): 193-216. (C