Anis Amran is an MSc Sociology student at the University of Oxford. Her research interests lie at the intersection of women's workforce participation, economic development and the gendered distribution of domestic labour. She is particularly interested in how cultural norms, shaped by religious and social contexts, inform gendered expectations around paid work and domestic responsibilities, especially in societies where these norms coexist with seemingly egalitarian values. These interests grew out of her previous policy research on gender inequalities in the Malaysian labour market, where she encountered debates that framed women's relatively low workforce participation primarily in terms of individual choice. This prompted her to consider how such choices are shaped by broader social and cultural norms, including those informed by religious contexts.
Prior to her MSc, Anis worked as a policy researcher at a government-linked research institute in Malaysia, examining issues related to education and labour market inequalities, including declining returns to higher education, the social stigma surrounding vocational education, and gender disparities in early career outcomes despite women's higher representation in higher education.
She is currently a recipient of the Khazanah-Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) Merdeka Scholarship and was previously supported by the PNB Global Scholarship Award for her A-levels and undergraduate studies. These opportunities have enabled her to pursue academic opportunities abroad that might otherwise have been beyond her reach, reinforcing her sense of responsibility to contribute to society through research and policy engagement.
Research interests: Labour market inequalities, gender and the sociology of work and care, educational inequalities and social mobility
Previous education: BA Philosophy, Politics and Economics, University of Southampton