Grishma Bhattarai

Grishma Bhattarai is a MPP candidate at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy where she is pursuing certifications in Data Analytics and Computational Social Science to complement her degree. She is interested in the interdisciplinary fields of Data, Development, and Social Good. Her research interests include inequality, intergenerational mobility and equal access to resources, particularly for minority groups. As a self-proclaimed data enthusiast who is inspired by the ideas of Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren Klein’s Data Feminism, she is interested in finding new ways of understanding data science, data literacy, and data integrity, motivated by the framework of intersectional feminism. Additionally, she is also currently working under the supervision of Dr. Steven Durlauf to understand the role of gender in determining intergenerational income and occupation mobility at Harris.
As a child, a book that heavily influenced her was The Little Prince. It touched upon the beauty of imagination in kids and the inevitability of sometimes losing that innate sense of imagination as we grow up. The book inspired her to push the boundaries of her own way of thinking to be more imaginative and quirky. Even today, she goes back to it consistently to remind herself to look at things from many perspectives— a skill which definitely helps in data and research work!