Monica Grant

My research examines how gender inequality in adult attainment is structured by specific early life course transitions linked to schooling, sexual initiation, and family formation. I have investigated these processes in a number of populations, but my recent work focuses on how they unfold in Sub-Saharan Africa.  My research focuses on three sub-areas: (1) the intersection of education and adolescent reproductive health, (2) the expansion of education in less developed countries, particularly gender and socioeconomic inequalities in schooling access and attainment, and (3) the role of family structure in governing early life course transitions.

These interests have led to my most recent projects, which have focused separately on fertility and union dissolution among adolescents and young adults in Malawi. My current research in progress focuses on young women’s experiences of divorce during the transition to adulthood and women’s post-divorce material well-being. Taken as a whole, my research examines the dimensions of inequality and vulnerability that shape opportunities during the transition to adulthood in highly resource constrained countries.

CDE Research Area Affiliations:

Demography of Inequality; Spatial and Environmental Demography

Selected Publication:

Pike, Isabel, and Monica Grant. “Gifting Relationships and School Dropout in Rural Malawi: Examining Differences by Gender and Poverty Level.” Studies in Family Planning 53, no. 1 (2022): 173-192.