Education

Payal Shah earned her Ph.D. in Education Policy Studies, MA in International and Comparative Education, and MA in Sociology from Indiana University. She earned her BA in International Studies from Colby College.

Expertise

International and comparative education, qualitative inquiry, social foundations of education

Research

Shah's primary research interests include girls’ education, international development and education policy, and qualitative research methodology, with geographical expertise in South Asia. 

Teaching

Payal Shah teaches EDFI 300: Schools in Communities, EDFI 730: Qualitative Epistemologies, Paradigms, and Theories, EDFI 731: Qualitative Research in Education and EDFI 741: International and Comparative Education in the Educational Foundations and Inquiry program.

Biography

Payal Shah is an Associate Professor of Social Foundations of Education and Qualitative Inquiry. She joined the Department of Educational and Developmental Science after completing her Ph.D. at Indiana University, Bloomington. Her primary research interests include girls' education, international development and education policy, and qualitative research methodology, with geographical expertise in South Asia. Shah's current projects include empowerment, gender and education related research.

Shah has published in a variety of journals across the fields of research methods, gender studies, and international and comparative education. Her research has been funded by the Fulbright Program and Spencer Foundation. She teaches courses on qualitative research methodology, international and comparative education, and the social foundations of education. Shah is an active member of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), and The Association for Asian Studies (AAS).