Thao Pham

Thao is a Ph.D. student in Educational Policy Studies with a concentration in Comparative and International Education. Before coming to UW-Madison, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Manchester, UK, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Indiana University-Bloomington. Her research focuses on how cultural and institutional factors (re)produce the achievement gap in Vietnam.

Her research expands to includes the multifaceted impacts of foreign influences–specifically China, France, and the United States–on Vietnam’s educational framework. She examines how these nations’ historical involvements, combined with Vietnam’s own socialist policies, have collectively shaped the current educational landscape, influencing curriculum, pedagogical approaches, and overall academic achievement within the country.

Research areas: South East Asia, achievement gap, cultural explanations

IDS Affiliate Faculty Advisor: Ran Liu

Publications:
1. Tran, T.-V., Pham, T.P., Nguyen, M.-H., Do, L.-T. and Pham, H.-H. (2022), An economic efficiency of higher education institutions in Vietnam between 2012 and 2016: a DEA analysis, Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 199-212. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-06-2021-0238

2. Pham, T.P, Huong, Le, Unveiling Key Determinants of Higher Education Expenditure in Vietnam: An Adaptive LASSO Approach in Tobit Regression Analysis, Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education (Forthcoming)”