a global perspective on social welfare policy
Last semester, Shweta Singh, PhD, assistant professor of social work, listened to a student speak in class about a U.S. woman working in a fast-food restaurant and living with a group of people in a one-room apartment. Singh responded by giving the class a sharp contrast: urban slums in India, where one-third of the population goes without fresh water. Her students were shocked.
Singh used the opportunity to teach her students about the varying levels of poverty and standards of living in different countries.
“The more exposure you have to other cultures, the better informed you will be to assist,” says Singh.
Born in India, Singh earned her master’s degree from Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences and a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her international education has given her a unique understanding of the ways Eastern and Western policymakers approach poverty.
“Here, the focus is more on clinical or micro practice, while in India, it is more on structural or macro issues,” Singh explains. “With the extent of poverty and diversity of populations here, you can’t plan from a single, top-heavy administration. It needs to start with smaller, homogenous groups planning for themselves.”
“The more exposure you have to other cultures, the better informed you will be to assist.” –Shweta Singh, PhD
This summer, Singh will work with Asian immigrant women examining how gender, mental health outcomes, and social service institutions are affecting women’s experience in the U.S. By documenting women through audio and video recordings, she hopes to make this kind of research accessible to people who would not typically look at social policy research, which is usually presented in the form of a scholarly paper.
Singh is also seeking a grant to compare Indian school systems to the Chicago Public Schools.
APRIL SPECHT (BS ’01)