Research Associate – Attrition and Attitudinal formations of Police Constables (MPP)- J-PAL South Asia

Project Title:

Attrition and Attitudinal formations of Police Constables

Start Date (earliest): May 1, 2024

Length of Commitment: 6 months (can be extended based on performance and availability)

Education: Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree

Organization: J-PAL South Asia at IFMR

Language requirement: Hindi, English

Location: Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

Principal Investigators (PIs): Sandip Sukhtankar, Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner, Akshay Mangla & Arielle Bernhardt 

Job Description: 

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) J-PAL was established in 2003 as a research center at the Economics Department at MIT. Since then, it has grown into a global network of researchers who use randomized evaluations to answer critical policy questions in the fight against poverty. J-PAL is propelled by a first-rate team dedicated to research, policy, training, and other vital work, supporting J-PAL's mission to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence.  J-PAL South Asia, which is based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in India, analyses and disseminates research results and builds partnerships with policymakers to ensure that policy is driven by evidence, and that programs proven effective are scaled up. We have a growing number of partnerships in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Project Descriptions: Low and declining participation rates of women in the labor force in India are a matter of first order concern for the country’s economy and society. The police forces in numerous states in India reserve 30% of new recruit positions for women as does the state of Madhya Pradesh. Though the police constable position is considered to be an attractive job, many women drop out at various stages in the recruitment process, as well as after starting their first posting. Working with the Madhya Pradesh state police, an exceptionally committed government partner, the project uses mixed-methods research, combining qualitative fieldwork, surveys, and randomized impact evaluation, to examine the impact of the intervention designed to address a potentially important constraint to female constables’ retention and advancement: their social and professional isolation in a male-dominated work environment. 

The selected candidate will be based in Bhopal and will work with Sandip Sukhtankar (University of Virginia), Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner (University of Virginia), Akshay Mangla (University of Oxford) and Arielle Bernhardt (MIT)

Key Responsibilities 

• Research Associates work closely with academic researchers and other field staff to perform a variety tasks including, but not limited to:
• Overseeing the implementation of the evaluation in accordance to the research design in association with our project partner, the Madhya Pradesh state police
• Maintaining relationship with partner organization at both headquarter and field levels
• Designing survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative research, running pilot exercises, refining study design and survey instruments
• Managing teams: Recruit, train and supervise both field-based and data operations teams consisting of project assistants, field managers, field-based surveyors, data entry operators and other field and office staff
• Travel to project sites to monitor and coordinate field activities
• Ensuring that the project complies with IRB and JPAL data collection and security protocols
• Coordinating with teams across different verticals within JPAL on a variety of operational tasks
• Supervising data collection and data-entry, and ensuring data quality and productivity
• Assisting with data cleaning, preliminary data analysis, and preparation of documents and presentations for dissemination
• Reporting to PI and RM on all of the above-mentioned activities and any other work assigned
• Maintain compliance with all J-PAL protocols and policies.

 Desired Qualifications and Experience:

•  Bachelor’s/Master’s degree in economics, social sciences, public policy, or related fields
• 1-2 years' Experience of working in a developing country.
• Excellent management/ organizational skills and able to solve unexpected problems
• Excellent quantitative skills (required), qualitative skills (preferred)Knowledge of Stata (required) and Survey CTO Familiarity with RCTs
• Willingness to travel
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team player
• Ability to deal with unstructured and dynamic environments
• Attention to detail
• Familiarity with Hindi (both spoken and written) 

Note on Work Authorizations:

Candidates must have work authorization to work in India.