Thanusha Balamuralikrishnan
Research Mentor: Beverly Strassmann
Mentor Department: Anthropology & RCGD (ISR), LSA
Author(s): Thanusha Balamuralikrishnan, Beverly Strassmann
Session: Session 1 (9:00 AM – 9:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Poster 45
Abstract
The Dogon are an ethnic group in Mali whose livelihood is based on millet farming. This study uses longitudinal data (years 1998 to 2026) on health, employment, and education in the Dogon people, collected by my mentor, Professor Beverly Strassmann. This project has three specific objectives. First, it aims to provide a descriptive overview of education within the study population, which will be accomplished by using descriptive statistics and graphical visualization techniques to summarize patterns of school enrollment, persistence in education,and educational attainment by sex. Second, it aims to investigate the association between height, measured longitudinally during childhood, and the likelihood of remaining in school versus dropping out. This analysis will employ Cox proportional hazards regression. Third, it aims to examine the association between education attainment and employment by sector, including professional work, manual labor, and domestic work, using multivariate regression. Prior to analysis, descriptive statistics will be conducted to identify outliers, assess variable distributions, and correct potential coding errors through reference to raw data sheets. Frequency distributions will be used to evaluate whether small categorical groups require aggregation, and means, standard deviations, and sample sizes will be calculated separately by sex and for the combined sample. Overall, this study contributes to existing research by leveraging rare longitudinal data on education in a low income country. Furthermore, by linking childhood biological measures, educational outcomes, and adult employment, it enhances the understanding of the pathways that lead to divergent opportunities and socioeconomic outcomes. Importantly, it will contrast rural versus urban residents and girls versus boys.
