Shamo Thar has been awarded a prestigious Margaret McNamara Education Grant (MMEG) for the academic year 2018-2019.  The award is offered to exceptional women from developing countries who are enrolled at universities in the US, Canada, and select universities in South Africa and Latin America.  MMEG has supported more than 370 exceptional women from more than 75 countries, who are inspired to improve the lives of women and children around the world. 

Shamo is the ^5th CIE student to receive a McNamara award.

As a third year Ph.D. candidate in International Education, Shamo’s main research interests are college access, equity, and success for minority students. The MMEG will assist her financially with her doctoral studies. Her dissertation will explore the extent to which socioeconomic status, cultural capital, and social capital effect access to higher education for minority students.

China’s recent higher education expansion has increased access to higher education, but the problem of inequality has also risen in recent years. Shamo’s research will explore the factors which influence the access of Tibetan students to higher education. This will be one of the first studies to explore this question in the context of China.