Background

Background

I have over a decade’s worth of experience working at the intersection of technology and society as a researcher, teacher, and a practitioner. My book project on labor, caste and gender in the Information Technology industry in India and Indian diaspora has emerged from years of experience and research across different communities in India like urban feminist non-profits, rural women’s organizations, and lastly, women-in-technology groups in the IT industry.

I have an undergraduate degree in computer science where my interest in the intersection of technology and society was cultivated through coursework in arts and humanities. This led me to a range of work before graduate school - I worked with a global, software consulting corporation, a non-profit focused on feminist approaches to technology, and, a social start-up for menstrual education/awareness.

My interdisciplinary training in my undergrad, along with my work experiences in different industries, made clear to me the need to pursue a line of work that brought my interest in the social and the technical together. Consequently, I got a PhD in Information Science, with a minor in Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

Work

🎓 President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at University of California, San Diego

  • Historical and ethnographic research for my book project, Disrupting Merit: Labor, Caste and Gender in Indian Computing

🤳🏽 Research Intern at Microsoft Research India

  • Studied social networks of Indian politicians on Twitter to understand the role of caste in their political reach and influence. (Link) (Link)

👩🏽‍🎓 Teaching and Research Assistant at Cornell University

  • Instructor of Record for the first-year writing seminar in Feminist Gender and Sexuality Studies - Beyond the Binary: Storytelling for Earthly Survival in Fall 2022
  • TA for INFO4240 - Designing Technologies for Social Impact and INFO1200 - Information Ethics, Law and Policy in Spring 2018, 2019
  • RA with Prof. Phoebe Sengers and Prof. Steven J. Jackson. I did ethnographic research of rural and urban programs focusing on women’s rights and technology in India.

🩸 Digital Media Specialist at Menstrupedia

  • I worked on designing and developing digital products for increasing menstrual awareness, use data analytics to understand online consumer behavior, and build networks and content with other feminist initiatives.

👩🏽‍🏫 Program Associate at Feminist Approach to Technology

  • I worked with teenage girls from urban settlements in Delhi on kickstarting the in-house Innovation and Idea Lab. I designed a syllabus and a space for feminist critical thinking in the use and design of technologies for addressing local community issues.

👩🏽‍💻 Business Technology Consultant at Deloitte LLP

  • I worked as a SAP business solution developer where I was developing, testing and supporting the Enterprise Resource Planning infrastructure. I later worked with the Sales Enablement team for market research, RFP response writing and client management

Past Affiliations

2021-22 - Mellon Foundation and Social Science Research Council Fellow

2020-21 - Visiting Scholar at Media Der Kooperation

Education