Behind the research: Priya Deshingkar

Over the course of the last 10 years, the Migrating out of Poverty consortium has drawn on the enthusiasm and expertise of many people across the globe. This blog series focuses on the people behind the research, who have kindly shared personal reflections and learning from their experience of working with the consortium. 

Priya is Professor of Migration and Development at the School of Global Studies, University of Sussex. She has worked full time with the programme since the launch of the consortium in 2010. She was the Principal Investigator from 2017 to 2019 and prior to that, the Research Director in charge of overall intellectual leadership and oversight. She led the Migration Industry theme and jointly conducted research on migration brokerage and smuggling with partners in Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Bangladesh and Singapore.

Working with the Migrating out of Poverty programme has been my dream job. It gave me the opportunity to work with experts in African and Asian countries on the kinds of migration that matter to the poor. 

Together we were able to work on unpacking the blackbox of migration among historically disadvantaged communities and in marginalised regions through rigorous comparative research. 

It has been extremely rewarding to see the programme’s work having a real impact on policy change and building up a community of researchers with shared interests and capacities to study the links between migration, poverty and development. I have worked with wonderful partners and built strong bonds of friendship and collaborative research which I will do my best to carry on beyond the programme.

The Migrating out of Poverty programme has been a true team effort, and we appreciate the role each individual has played in producing and disseminating the research.

Thank you for all your hard work with the Migrating out of Poverty programme, Priya