Lynda Pickbourn, associate professor of economics, received her B.A. in economics from the University of Ghana. She also holds a graduate certificate in Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies and an M.A. and Ph.D in economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Pickbourn teaches courses on gender and economic development, feminist political economy and the history of economic thought. Prior to coming to Hampshire college, she was an assistant professor of economics at Keene State College in New Hampshire.
Pickbourn's fields of specialization are in Economic Development and Feminist Economics, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Her dissertation research examined the role of gendered social norms in shaping migration and remittance behavior, a topic on which she carried out field research in rural communities in Northern Ghana for a year. Her other interests include the structural and institutional determinants of employment and earnings in the informal economy in developing countries, and the impact of foreign aid on gender equality in health and education outcomes in sub-Saharan African countries.
Pickbourn has been the recipient of a number of awards and fellowships, including a research fellowship from the American Association of University Women and a Women's Studies dissertation fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation.