Dr Mary Zhang

Dr Mary Zhang

Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology
Associate Professor
125th Anniversary Fellow

Contact details

Email
f.zhang.4@bham.ac.uk
Address
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Mary joined the University of Birmingham as a 125th Anniversary Fellow and Associate Professor of International Social Policy in 2024, having previously held academic posts at the Universities of Bristol and Oxford. Her work receives funding from ESRC, IDRC, NERC, UKRI, and UNICEF, producing high-quality articles, book chapters, and policy reports, which became an important part of the Research Excellence Framework impact case study. Her work has been disseminated worldwide through diverse channels, including the Science Summits at the United Nations General Assembly. Her teaching covers cutting-edge theories and practices in Social Policy and Research Methodology. She also offers capacity-building training for international non-governmental organisations’ statistical officers and data managers.

Biography

Mary utilises an interdisciplinary approach to explore three overarching themes: (1) poverty and social exclusion, (2) gender inequality, and (3) climatic vulnerability and adaptation. She employs a range of advanced and innovative quantitative and qualitative methods. Of the three research themes, she primarily investigates inequality and marginality resulting from poverty and social exclusion, focusing on developing scientifically rigorous measures of multidimensional poverty applicable in low- and middle-income countries. The second area of her research concerns gender inequality. Within this realm, she examines gender inequalities in sustainable development, precarious self-employment, and the care economy and transformation. Her third research area explores climatic vulnerability and adaptation, revealing the protective factors that can enhance vulnerable groups’ ecological, social, and mental resilience and sustainable development.

Research

  • Poverty and social exclusion
  • Gender inequality
  • Sustainable development
  • Climatic vulnerability
  • Advanced statistical and modelling approaches
  • Social survey

Other activities

Research Grants  

A Pan-African and Transdisciplinary Lens on the Margins: Tackling the Risks of Extreme Events, International Development Research Centre, 2023-26, as Co-I

From Flooding Storylines to Resilience Stories in Lusaka, Natural Environment Research Council, 2021-22, as Co-PI

Monograph on Child Poverty in Zanzibar, United Nations Children’s Fund, 2021-22, as Co-PI

Physical and Mental Health Toll of Food Insecurity due to Climate Change, University of Bristol Pro-Vice-Chancellor-Research Strategic Research Investment Fund, 2021, as PI

Exploring the Feasibility of Providing in-time Bespoke Measurement and Statistical Consultancy beyond Academia, Economic and Social Research Council, Accelerating Business Collaboration Scheme, 2021, as PI

Integration of Multidimensional Child Poverty Analysis in National Statistics, United Nations Children’s Fund, 2020-21, as Co-PI

Child Poverty Estimates in Pakistan, United Nations Children’s Fund, 2020-21, as Co-PI

Estimating the Vulnerability of African Girls and their Families to Covid-19 Infections, University of Bristol Elizabeth Blackwell Institute, Global Public Health Strand Covid-19 Fund, 2020, as Co-PI

Supporting the Measurement and Enhancement of African Children’s Rights and Well-being in Nutrition, Healthcare and Education through a Gender Lens, Economic and Social Research Council, Global Challenges Research Fund Scheme, 2019-21, as PI

Poverty and Malnutrition in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, Economic and Social Research Council, Impact Acceleration Account, 2018-19, as PI

Helping to Improve the Measurement of Multiple Malnutrition in Developing Countries, Economic and Social Research Council, Impact Acceleration Account, 2018, as PI

Understanding Poverty and Social Exclusion in China and the United Kingdom, Economic and Social Research Council, International Strategic Fund, 2017, as PI

Publications