Resume

Hello! My name is Nisma Elias. I graduated with my PhD in Comparative and International Development Education (CIDE) from the University of Minnesota, with a minor in Evaluation Studies.

Prior to my PhD, I worked for a number of years in East Africa as a Research Economist in education policy. Before that, I was based in Washington D.C. where I worked for the Education Global Practice at the World Bank and Results for Development (R4D).

My dissertation research focused on investigating the ways in which educational institutions explicitly work for the privileged. I examined how the education system in Bangladesh allows those of upper class backgrounds to construct and maintain distinction. Within this framework, I focused on the role of private schooling and private tutoring centers, and how students cultivate relationships with each other and their teachers within private tutoring classes.

Research Interests

Equity and access to schooling
Private schooling and private tutoring
Inclusive education
Mixed methods research design
Process Evaluations to improve educational outcomes and opportunities.

Education

🎓 PhD in Comparative and international Development Economics with Minor in Evaluation
2024
University of Minnesota

🎓 MA in International and Development Economics
2013
Yale University

🎓 BA in Economics
2012
Reed College

Research

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Elias, N. (2024). Learning in the Shadows: Socialization into Elite Status through Private Tutoring Education in Urban Bangladesh. [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Minnesota.

Elias, N. (2024). Illuminating the Shadow Education Mechanism of Neoliberal Governmentality in Bangladesh. In: Saeed, T., Iyengar, R., Witenstein, M.A., Byker, E.J. (Eds.), Exploring education and democratization in South Asia (pp. 13-31). South Asian Education Policy, Research, and Practice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47798-0_2

Elias, N. (2022). The political economy of education in the Arab world. Comparative Education Review, 66(1), 61-164. https://doi.org/10.1086/717816

Elias, N. (2023). Shadow education in Myanmar: Private supplementary tutoring and its policy implications. Comparative Education Review 67(3), 685–688. University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.1086/725659

Elias, N., Collins, K., & Steiner, J. (2021). Transforming Crucial Academic Support Services During a Pandemic. In J. Herron & T. Douglas (Eds.), Strategies for student support during a global crisis (pp. 141-158). IGI Global.

Elias, N. (2019). The global education reform movement: Is it working? Reconsidering Development, 6(1). Retrieved from https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/reconsidering.

Online Articles & Public Scholarship

Elias, N. (2017). Systems in action: Tanzania. World Bank Brief. Retrieved from http://wbgfiles.worldbank.org

Elias, N. (2015). Empowering Uganda’s Youth to Be Job Creators. World Bank Feature Story. Washington DC: World Bank Group.

Burnett, N. & Elias, N. (2014). Education’s buy-down option. Project Syndicate. Retrieved from https://www.project-syndicate.org

Conference Presentations (Refereed)

Elias, N. (2024, March 11-14). Using mixed methods reflexively in CIE research [Pre-conference workshop]. Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) Annual Conference, Miami, FL, United States.

Elias, N. (2023, February 14-22). The shadow education system of reproducing elite status in Bangladesh [Conference presentation]. Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) Annual Conference, Washington D.C., United States.

Omar, A., Elias, N., Mckenzie, J., Ogunleye, O., & Cyprian, C. (2020). Situating Indigeneity and Decoloniality: The Experiences of Five Graduate Students in Morocco. Presentation at the American Educational Studies Association (AESA) Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX, United States (Conference canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic).

Rakusin, M., Elias, N., & Masoud, M. (2019). Why do private schools consistently outperform public schools in Zanzibar? Paper presented at the Comparative International Education Society (CIES) Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA, United States.

Elias, N. (2020, June 7). Here’s why you should care about Black Lives Matter. Dhaka Tribune. https://tinyurl.com/dhakatribune-nismaelias

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