Mahreen is the Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Development at the University of Oxford.

She is a labour economist focusing on issues of labour mobility and migration, human capital and skills acquisition, and youth entrepreneurship in low- and middle-income countries. Notably, her research explores how non-cognitive skills and behavioural interventions can address labour market frictions; the drivers and impact of large-scale international labour migration; the role of entrepreneurship accelerators in driving successful start-ups amongst Bangladeshi youth; and, meaningful worker participation in global supply chains. While her primary research uses quantitative and experimental methods based on the principles of econometric analysis and causal inference, she is a firm believer in mixed methods with a strong commitment to integrating qualitative analysis at various stages of her research process.

Khan has extensive and diverse work experience in the international development and policy space. She worked as a Senior Economic Adviser for the Dutch government, focusing on issues of labour organization and decent work conditions in the textile sector in Bangladesh. In this role, she collaborated closely with stakeholders in the Bangladesh government, civil society, and diplomatic communities. She led the implementation of large-scale impact evaluations using Randomized Control Trials (RCT) while working with Innovations for Poverty Action in Bangladesh, Nepal and Uganda. She also worked at Credit Suisse’s investment banking sector in New York and London.

Khan completed her Ph.D. from the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She holds a Master’s in Applied Economics from the Paris School of Economics, and dual Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Management from MIT.