Research Associate- Sexual harassment study India- J-PAL South Asia

Start Date (Earliest): April-May 2024

Language Requirement: Hindi

Length of Commitment: 6 months

Joining Location: Jaipur, India or another city yet to be decided

Name of the Project: Sexual harassment study India

Sector- Crime/Gender

 About the Organization

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of 194 affiliated professors at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty. J-PAL South Asia, based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research in India, leads J-PAL’s work in the South Asia region. J-PAL South Asia conducts randomized evaluations, builds partnerships for evidence-informed policymaking, and helps partners scale up effective programs. Over more than ten years of existence, J-PAL South Asia has conducted 193 ongoing and completed randomized evaluations.

About the position 

J-PAL South Asia at the Institute for Financial Management and Research seeks qualified applicants for the position of Research Associate to lead a quantitative data collection study in India. The Research Associate will join a team of world-class researchers from leading universities in the world and will gain first-hand experience in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research.

J-PAL South Asia is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to age, disability, family status, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and other attributes protected by law. We strongly encourage people from marginalized communities to apply for this role. 

Project Specific Details-

PIs – Lori Beaman, Seema Jayachandran, Anisha Sharma

Gender-based violence (GBV) is prevalent in India. GBV is physical, sexual, or mental harm that individuals experience based on their gender, encompassing intimate partner and other domestic violence as well as sexual assault and harassment occurring outside the home, such as in public spaces, workplaces, educational institutions. In a 2010 survey conducted by the non-governmental organization Jagori in Delhi, 90 percent of the 5000 respondents agreed that sexual harassment was rampant in public places. In a more recent survey of 219 women in tier-two cities conducted by Safetipin, 30 percent reported facing harassment in public transport in the past year. Despite widespread media coverage of violence and harassment, there is a lack of representative data on the extent of the problem and rigorous evidence on effectiveness of approaches to reduce it. Large-scale surveys in India do not include questions about women’s experience of violence outside the home and there is a dearth of reliable data on the extent of the problem. 

To get a better sense of the scope and scale of women’s experiences of violence outside the home, J-PAL SA will conduct a survey to collect high-quality data in 2 cities in India – Hyderabad and Jaipur. We will implement a self-administered survey of a sample of women in public spaces and using public transport to understand the prevalence of sexual harassment/violence and the frequency with which they experience it. 

Research Associates work closely with Research Managers & Principal Investigators who guide and supervise them in their various tasks. This is an excellent opportunity to engage in the collection of primary data, and to understand key barriers to women’s safety that ought to be addressed, and areas in which policymakers can focus interventions and evaluations to maximize impact. 

Key Responsibilities

•  Research Associates work closely with academic researchers and other field staff to perform a variety task including, but not limited to: 
• 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 
• Supervising data collection and data entry to ensure good data quality during both these phases. This includes travelling to the both Hyderabad and Jaipur to supervise field activities during piloting and scale-up of the main survey. 
• Co-ordinating with the Administrative and Finance team on a variety of tasks related to field staff contracting and payments
•  Overseeing the implementation of the study in accordance to the research design in association with our partner organization 
• Ensuring that the project complies with IRB and JPAL data collection and security protocols with the help of the Research Manager 
• Maintaining relationship with partner organizations at both headquarters and field levels Assisting with data cleaning and preliminary data analysis 
• Assisting in preparation of documents and presentations for donor reporting as well as dissemination activities 
• Reporting to PIs on all of the above mentioned activities 
• Any other task as assigned by the Research Manager, AD Research or ED 

Desired Qualifications 

• Bachelor's/master’s degree in economics, social sciences, public policy, education or related fields 
• Experience living in a developing country is a strong plus. 
• Previous experience in development research preferred. 
• Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills
•  Fluency and excellent communication skills in English critical as well as fluency in Hindi desirable 
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and team player 
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations 
• Knowledge of Stata (strongly preferred) or other data analysis software is preferred 
• Ability to deal with unstructured and changing environments
•  Ability to work independently and in rural field locations 

Note on Work Authorizations:

Candidates must have work authorization to work in India.