Dr. Kusum Mundra is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Rutgers University Newark. She received her Ph.D in Economics from the University of California, Riverside and an M.A. from Delhi School of Economics. Her research interests are Applied Econometrics, Immigration and International Migration, Housing, Social Networks, Population Economics, Nonparametric and Semiparametric Panel Data Models. Her research has been published in various academic journals, including the International Migration Review, Demography, Empirical Economics, Education Economics, American Economic Review- Papers and Proceedings, Review of International Economics, Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, International Trade Journal, Terrorism and Political Violence, the Handbook of Applied Econometrics and Statistical Inferences, and the Frontiers of Economics and Globalization – Migration and Culture. She serves on the editorial board of Journal of Quantitative Economics and is a Research Fellow at IZA Bonn and GLO. Her research has been cited in Washington Post, US News, NPR , Economist and the Conversation.
How does your research, scholarship or professional experience inspire your teaching?
Since joining Rutgers Newark, I've consistently taught large undergraduate sections of Statistics and courses like Introduction to Econometrics, Advanced Econometrics, and Women in the Economy. At the graduate level, I teach Econometrics and a course on the Economics of Immigration. My journey as an immigrant from India, my experience in graduate school and teaching at San Diego State in California, my time as an economic litigation consultant in New York City, and my role at Rutgers Newark since 2008 have all shaped both my teaching and research. My teaching and interactions with our students often inspire my research, and my research deeply influences my teaching.
In all my courses, both undergraduate and graduate, my teaching is centered around using cutting-edge empirical methods and applying them to real-world analysis and policy discussions. As an applied econometrician, I strive to make complex topics accessible and relevant. For example, in my Introductory Statistics class (Econ 203), I challenge my students to explain concepts like the average, standard deviation, or statistical significance to someone unfamiliar with statistics. This helps them deepen their understanding and develop their skill of communicating complex ideas simply.
In my econometrics courses both at the undergraduate and graduate level, my teaching largely involves ensuring students can conduct empirical analyses and effectively explain their findings. My classes are organized around applying various econometric models and understanding how empirical data and econometric models validates or challenges theoretical constructs, and thus fostering critical thinking among my students not only about economic issues but also about econometric methods. For example, my students estimate robust econometric models for homeownership outcomes for immigrants or gender wage gap models using cross-sectional or panel or time series data and test different hypotheses.
I emphasize the importance of a solid understanding of econometric theory to correct for any empirical challenges, and I place a strong emphasis on interpreting and clearly communicating results.
My research also informs the case studies and examples I bring into the classroom. In my Women in the Economy course, for instance, we explore how immigration status and race affect labor market outcomes. In my graduate course on immigration, we discuss how social networks impact the immigrant experience—a topic very close to my own research. I share my findings on issues like Hispanic immigrant education-occupation mismatches and the effects of social networks on homeownership and unemployment during economic downturns. These examples help bridge the gap between theory and current real-world issues, enhancing students' learning experiences. I am particularly excited to teach the Economics of Immigration for the Honors College in Spring 2025.My students' diverse perspectives often spark new research ideas, creating a rich interplay between my teaching and scholarship. I strive to create an environment that is both intellectually challenging and meaningful, where students not only gain technical skills but also develop the motivation to apply these skills to issues they care about.
What is one innovative or unique teaching practice you’d like to share?
My teaching style is very interactive, and even in large Introductory Statistics classes of 100-150 students, I encourage questions and discussions. This approach allows me to understand where my students are coming from, assess whether they're following the material, and ultimately helps me to be a more effective teacher. Over the years, I've noticed that our students love to talk and are often more engaged when given the opportunity to participate actively.
However, I've also observed that they often lack opportunities to communicate coherently about the topics they're learning—especially quantitative measures, empirical findings, or their applied projects in my econometrics classes. So in all my courses, as much as possible, I incorporate elements of presentations, both individual and group. Students are not only required to write about the topics and discussions but also to present their work to their peers.
In my Women in the Economy course, for example, I assign students into groups of three. They work together to present a paper on a topic we've discussed in class. One group might present on the gender wage gap in pharmacy and the other in finance. This enables them to read and learn from a research paper, learn to work as a team and communicate effectively. In my immigration and econometrics courses, they don't just read journal articles—they critically analyze and present their applied project findings. I am always amazed to see how students take ownership of these presentations. Many students have shared that the skills and confidence gained from these presentations have been invaluable beyond Rutgers, helping them in their job interviews and careers.
For group presentations, students cannot always choose their group—I assign them randomly. Assigning groups randomly adds another layer of learning. Yes, there are occasional conflicts and unequal work distribution happens, but with individual grading and clear expectations, everyone is held accountable. Students learn to negotiate responsibilities and collaborate with diverse personalities- skills that extend far beyond the classroom. It prepares them for the real world where one doesn't always get to choose teammates or colleagues.
How does this work advance the university's mission as a publicly engaged anchor institution?
My research and my teaching are very intensively embedded in the issues surrounding Newark, NJ and our students. In all my courses for our undergraduates and graduate students my applied examples, discussions and topics are very much rooted on issues facing immigrants and the minority population which is the demographics of our students and Newark and NJ. In my undergraduate elective Women in the Economy, I foster not only discussions on the labor market outcomes across gender and occupations but also across race. In my immigration course we discuss not only the various impacts of immigration on the economy but also how these impacts differ across immigrant types and where they originate from. These conversations not only make the material more relatable but also encourage students to critically analyze systemic inequalities.
My research further complements my teaching by focusing on the role of social networks in the lives of immigrants. I've explored how these networks impact immigrant housing stability during economic crises and affect unemployment durations, particularly during the Great Recession. In recent studies, I've delved into housing vulnerability across racial groups during the recent pandemic and investigated education-occupation mismatches among college-educated Hispanics—all issues deeply relevant to our community. By integrating these topics into my curriculum, I aim to make my scholarship accessible and impactful for my students, many of whom experience these challenges firsthand. My teaching and research strongly advance the university's mission as a publicly engaged anchor institution and I believe that by addressing these critical issues within the classroom, we're not only educating but also empowering the next generation to effect meaningful change in their communities.
Also from or about Kusum Mundra:
Mundra, Kusum and Ruth Uwaifo-Oyelere. 2024. “In Need of a Roof: Pandemic and Housing Vulnerability.” Journal of Economic Race and Policy 7: 27-44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41996-023-00128-w
Mundra, Kusum and Fernando Rios-Avila. 2023. “Education-Occupation Mismatch and Social Networks for Hispanics in the U.S.: Role of Citizenship.” Education Economics 32(2):185-209. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09645292.2023.2200911
Mundra, Kusum and Fernando Rios-Avila. 2021. “Using Repeated Cross-Sectional Data to examine the role of Immigrant Birth-country Networks on Unemployment Duration: an Application of Guell & Hu (2006) Approach.” Empirical Economics 61:389 – 415. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00181-020-01855-x
Mundra, Kusum. 2020. "Minority and Immigrant Experience in the Recent Housing Market: Evidence from the 2009 American Housing Survey.” Immigration Symposium Special Issue, Eastern Economic Journal 46(1):53-81. 10.1057/s41302-019-00153-4
Mundra, Kusum and Ruth Uwaifo-Oyelere. 2018. “Determinants of Homeownership among Immigrants: Changes during the Great Recession and Beyond.” International Migration Review 52(3): 648-694. 10.1177/0197918318781833:
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