College of Education and Human Development

Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development

Nancy Pellowski Wiger

  • Senior Researcher

Areas of interest

  • Gender equality and social inclusion
  • Inequalities in education
  • Youth livelihoods
  • International development policy and practice
  • Longitudinal mixed methods research and evaluation
Biography

Growing up I saw the power and potential of education, while witnessing the ways in which gender, socio-economic status, and other factors advantaged some and disadvantaged others. I became fascinated with the intersection of education and sociology while studying at Grinnell College. Working as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic further cemented my interests in gender and international development. I have studied and worked as a researcher at the University of Minnesota on a variety of longitudinal, mixed-methods research projects, including a partnership with CARE focused on marginalized girls’ education in eight countries (2008-2011), a partnership with The MasterCard Foundation on youth livelihoods in East Africa (2011-2017), and a partnership with Australian Aid to conduct the Gender Responsive Equitable Agriculture and Tourism (GREAT) Longitudinal Study in Vietnam (2019-2022). I have also had the privilege of working as a consultant on a variety of research and evaluation projects related to gender and international education with UNICEF, World Vision, the World Bank, USAID, and UNGEI. I am currently working as a Senior Researcher at the University of Minnesota in a team as a Global Learning Partner with the Global Partnership for Education and Oxfam Denmark to support Education Out Loud. I value multiple approaches and methods, and I love working in meaningful partnership with colleagues.

Publications

Pellowski Wiger, N., Khan, K., Nikoi, A., Arur, A., Chachage, K., Miske, S., Hingorani, R., Odenyi, D., Samad, N., & Shukla, N. (under review). “I used to wonder why girls do not study”: Using narrative techniques in mixed-methods gender and education research and evaluation to capture tensions in Pakistani youths’ lives. International Journal of
Research & Method in Education.

DeJaeghere, J., Le, H., Luong, P., Ngo, N.T.H., Vu, T.T., Pellowski Wiger, N., & Lee, J. (2024). Relational empowerment of ethnic minority women in Vietnam: How do household and community relations matter? Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. 426-453. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2024.2371043.

DeJaeghere, J., Pellowski Wiger, N., Le, H., Luong, P., Ngo, N., Vu, T., & Lee, J. (2022). Why do aspirations matter for empowerment?: Discrepancies between the A-WEAI domains and aspirations of ethnic minority women in Vietnam. World Development. 159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106057.

Pellowski Wiger, N. (2020). The role of peers as community in youth education and employment in East Africa. In M. Nishimura (Ed.), Community participation with schools in developing countries: Towards equitable and inclusive basic education for all (pp. 149 – 161). Routledge Research in Educational Equality and Diversity Series. New York &
Oxon: Routledge.

Pellowski Wiger, N. (2016). Social capital, agency, and creating micro-enterprises: A case of entrepreneurship education for Tanzanian youth. In J. DeJaeghere, J. Josic, & K. McCleary (Eds.), Education and youth agency: Qualitative case studies in global contexts (pp. 217-232). Switzerland: Springer International Publications.

DeJaeghere, J., Pellowski Wiger, N., & Willemsen, L. (2016). Broadening educational outcomes: Social relations, skills development, and employability for youth. Comparative Education Review, 60(3), 457-479. https://doi.org/10.1086/687034.

Pellowski Wiger, N., Chapman, D., Baxter, A., & DeJaeghere, J. (2015). Context matters: A model of the factors associated with the effectiveness of youth entrepreneurship training. Prospects, 45(4), 533-547. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-015-9366-x.

DeJaeghere, J., & Pellowski Wiger, N. (2013). Gender discourses in an NGO education project: Openings for transformation toward gender equality in Bangladesh. International Journal of Educational Development, 33(6), 557-565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2013.02.002.