Nabila Parijat
Hi! I’m Nabila Parijat, a PhD candidate in Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Dallas. I expect to complete my dissertation by May 2026 (fingers crossed!). An international student from a small developing nation, I am passionate about research areas that affect nonresident aliens at a deep level - immigration policy and international development.
Motivation
While the majority of international students who pursue higher education in the US cross paths with the H-1B for employment, very few studies have empirically evaluated its impact. Wanting my scholarship to influence policy, especially those affecting international students like myself, I felt it was my duty and calling to study the effects of high-skilled immigration in America. I am deeply driven to use evidence-based scholarship to demonstrate the value of diverse backgrounds in the US economy. For example, using a 14-year panel dataset comprising many public sources and economic growth theories, my dissertation demonstrates that a higher approval rate of H-1B applications is associated with more patenting activity, and these effects are more pronounced in states experiencing higher unemployment rates.
Additionally, international development (ID) organizations have monumentally shaped developing countries like my very own Bangladesh. Foreign assistance has tremendously impacted health, water and sanitation, agriculture, population, and many other areas of development in my beloved home country. Given the vast importance of their work, it is imperative that we evaluate the performance of ID initiatives to assess whether they are meeting their goals. This is where I come in, with 3.5 years of experience in performance management in USAID, FCDO, and US Department of State-funded programs. My additional experiences at Oxfam America and Maya Midwifery International, as an intern and CONNECT Fellow respectively, have expanded my breadth in the nonprofit and voluntary sector by allowing me to venture into sustainability and public health research, analyzing food insecurity and conflict in climate hotspots, and maternal health in Guatemala.
Yes, uphill battles, but my motto is to follow the evidence, as a student of economics, social data analytics, and of course, my PhD discipline, public affairs.
About Me
I am an aspiring scholar drawn to challenging research questions and the methodological complexity they demand. Much of my work integrates multiple public datasets, leading me to spend significant time merging, cleaning, and analyzing data. My dream is to one day find a dataset that captures everything I want to investigate. Maybe I will build that dataset myself (I have already started doing this for a class paper using a survey).
The happiest you will see me is in class, explaining research design topics to undergrads. I have an absolute blast conducting in-class experiments and quasi-experiments through Kahoot!, asking students to diagnose problems in survey questions, among other shenanigans. When it comes to grading your work, I can be very detailed for my own good, but I will get you thorough feedback (more feedback than you will probably read).
On a personal note, I am married to the love of my life, who accepts and tolerates me for my idiosyncrasies. We are both PhD students in Public Affairs, and have the best time attending conferences together and being each other’s cheerleaders. Of course, when not drowning in academics, we are chilling with a TV and coma-inducing food (he has an unhealthy obsession with fried chicken, as I do with tea).
Connect with me!
If this introduction gave you a sense of my personality - a bit obsessed with my projects, my teaching, and having a good time - feel free to learn more by viewing my CV or connecting with me on LinkedIn.
Academic Achievements
