Overview

My research program tries to advance knowledge in the field of development sociology through substantive and methodological contributions in three areas: (1) the sociology of education, (2) social change, and (3) the demography of inequality. For the next two years, this research will focus on the socioeconomic consequences of demographic transitions in sub-Saharan Africa, specifically on schooling, gender inequality, and socioeconomic inequality. This research will rely on an analytical framework I developed in 2006-07 to expand existing dilution arguments. The empirical component of this research will use existing data as well as new panel data to be collected if my recent applications for external funding are successful. My teaching goals for the next five years are to strengthen our department's undergraduate and graduate training in social science research. These goals will be achieved by creating opportunities for practical research for our undergraduates, and by developing a graduate course devoted to empirical research on development issues. In achieving these goals, I can build on my teaching experience here and on our departments' evolving vision. Specific objectives for the next five years are to 1) publish a reader for my course on education and inequality (DSoc305); 2) follow up my introductory course on social science research (DSoc 313) by creating research opportunities for students planning to do an honors projects or to enroll into a graduate program in sociology; 3) provide new opportunities for graduate students to collaborate on research and complement their training in the empirics of social change. These teaching goals address existing needs and they are in line with our department's focus on applied sociology and global development.

Research Focus

My research covers three related areas that include the sociology of education, social change, and the demography of inequality. I have recently developed a conceptual and analytical framework for estimating how much contemporary demographic transitions in developing countries can affect the formation of human capital in these regions. I am now applying this framework to study these dividends in six or seven African countries. This work speaks to policy efforts to expand schooling in developing countries, and to scientific questions about dividends from demographic transitions.

Outreach and Extension Focus

Much of my outreach work continues to be through collaboration with global development institutions on issues of poverty reduction and inequality.

Outreach and Extension Focus

Much of my outreach work for the last year has been through collaboration with other institutions such as the United Nations and the World Bank on poverty reduction and gender issues. Following my tenure and promotion, I plan to work more closely with organizations that are both more focused thematically and closer to the ground.

Instruction Focus

Courses Taught: DSOC 3050 DSOC 3130

Additional Links

• Department of Development Sociology
• Link to CALS Research portal
• Link to CALS Impact statements

Professional Activities

• Population Council. Panel review of research proposals submitted as part of a new $4M research initiative by the Population Reference Bureau & Hewlett Foundations in support of research on the connections between Population and Poverty. - 2007
• "Child Fosterage as Informal Safety Nets? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa." Invited Speaker at Princeton University, Center for Migration and Development. Princeton University, April 20, 2006. - 2006
• Discussant, Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Philadelphia, PA, 2005. - 2005
• Session Chair, Conference 2005 International Union for Scientific Study of Population. Tours, France, December. - 2005
• Participant at top policy roundtable on the links between Population and Development (Center for Global Development, Washington DC). - 2005

Selected Publications

• Eloundou-Enyegue PM. (2007). The Gender-Parity Dividend" from African Fertility Transitions: Theoretical Pathways. Second Annual Research Conference on Population Impacts on Economic Development (Arusha, Tanzania, Dec. 8-9) http://www.prb.org/About/InternationalPrograms/Projects-Programs/HewlettPRBResearch/SecondAnnualConference.aspx 2007
• Sarah Giroux, Fatou Jah, and PM Eloundou-Enyegue. 2008. A Foothold in the Urban Economy: Rural Disavantage in Schooling and Labor Force Participation in Cameroon. (book chapter, in Alecia Jackson and K. Schaft (eds): Rural Education for the Twenty-First Century: Identity, Place, and Community in a Globalizing World 2007
• Eloundou-Enyegue PM and CS Stokes (2007). "Demographic Transitions and Children's Resources: Bonus or Divergence? " session #10 of the Annual Meetings of the Population Association of America March 2007). (co-authored with CS Stokes). http://paa2007.princeton.edu/search.aspx?Terms=Eloundou. 2007
• Giroux S., PM Eloundou-Enyegue and D Lichter (2007) "Trends in Reproductive Inequality in sub-Saharan Africa: A Micro-Macro Distinction: " session #150 of the Annual Meetings of the Population Association of America, March 2007. http://paa2007.princeton.edu/search.aspx?Terms=Eloundou 2007
• Kritz, M, S Zreyeva and PM Eloundou-Enyegue. (2007) "International Brain drain from sub-Saharan Africa. " Fifth African Population Conference, Arusha Tanzania (Dec 2007). http://www.uaps.org/ 2007
• Eloundou-Enyegue P. and CS Shannon Stokes. 2007. Demographic Transitions and Children's Resources: Bonus or Divergence? Demographic Research16(7):195-218. Anila Rehman and PM Eloundou-Enyegue. 2008. Minding the Orphans: African Crises, Rescue Institutions, and the Economy of Orphanhood. The Current 11(1). 2007
• A.E. Calves. "Till Marriage Do Us Part: The Family Returns to Female Education in Cameroon. " Comparitive Education Research 50(1): 1-20. 2006
• Y. Sakabe and V. Kandiwa. "The Rise of African NGOs: Functional or Opportunistic Rise? " The Current 10(1): Fall 2006. 2006
• 2006 L.B. Williams. "The Effects of Family Size on Child Schooling: A Reexamination. " Demography 43(1): 25-52. 2006
• D. Shapiro. "Confiage d'Enfants et Niv?lement des In?galit?s Scolaires au Cameroun. " Cahiers Qu?becois de D?mographie 34(1):47-75. 2005
• "Pregnancy-Related Dropouts and Gender Inequality in Education: A Life Table Approach and Application to Cameroon. " Demography 41(3):509-528. 2004
• C.S. Stokes. "Teen Pregnancy and Gender Inequality in Education: A Contextual Hypothesis. " Demographic Research 11(11):305-322. 2004
• J. DaVanzo. "Economic Downturns and Schooling Inequalities: Cameroon 1987-1995. " Population Studies 57(2):183-197. 2003
• C.S. Stokes. "Will Economic Crises in Africa Weaken Rural Urban Solidarity? Evidence from Cameroon. " Rural Sociology 67(2):278-298. 2002
• "Is There Population Implosion? " Environmental Change and Security Project Report 7:13-15. 2001
• C.S. Stokes and G.T. Cornwell. "Are There Crisis-Led Fertility Declines? Evidence from Central Cameroon. " Population Research and Policy Review 19:47-92. 2000

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