Sarah C. White
I trace the fundamentals of RWB back to my PhD (1988) – a gender-focused village study in Bangladesh. Most scholarship then emphasised the structural dominance of men over women and attributed this to women’s economic inactivity. What struck me, instead, was the importance of differences between women (and men) by class and position in the family and how heavily women’s economic activity depended on their relationships. I was also very aware of my own privilege as a white, middle class British woman seeking to understand others. The crucial hidden factor in my learning is the generosity of those in the village who supported me.
Curiosity about relationships and social difference has characterised all my work since – in research, consultancy, teaching and training. I have studied masculinities, child rights, participation, NGOs, race, religion, and of course wellbeing. While my own research is qualitative, I have led and supported mixed methods teams both remotely and in-person. I have been trained in Action Learning. I have undertaken evaluations for DFID and international NGOs. My main research has been in Bangladesh, India and Zambia but my advisory work is global. Until 2020 I was Professor of International Development and Wellbeing at the University is Bath.
Shreya Jha
My present thinking on wellbeing weaves together a foundational training in inclusive mental health practice with almost 25 years’ experience in programmatic interventions and research on wellbeing and poverty, mental health, disability, gender, children’s lives, and disaster reconstruction. While life stories are the primary medium through which I explore these themes, I combine this focus on individuals’ subjective experiences with rigorous attention to their socio-cultural and structural contexts. To these I apply theory from sociology, anthropology, and psychology to understand systemic inequity and its effects on individual and community wellbeing.
My work has involved extensive field research – both qualitative and mixed-methods; team management; capacity strengthening; participatory evaluation; programme design; service delivery; and advocacy. Experience across India, South Asia, UK, and Zambia informs my cross-cultural sensitivity. My present interest lies in translating wellbeing concepts into practical frameworks for implementation and evaluation. I hold a PhD in the Sociology of Development (2018) and MSc in Wellbeing and Human Development (2008), both from the University of Bath, UK and a Diploma in Counselling Skills from Saarthak, New Delhi, India (2001).
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