Katharine Sadowski, PhD Candidate

Cornell University, Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy

About Me

My research interests are broadly policy analysis, labor and public economics, and the economics of education, especially Early Childhood Education. I employ a variety of methodological tools from econometrics to natural language processing and machine learning. I am on the job market this academic year seeking assistant professor positions in policy, economics, or education departments as well as research-focused positions within the federal government.

I am currently spending the bulk of my time on two projects. The first is a national childcare provider dataset for which I am actively collecting historic and real-time childcare data (see more here). The second is an approved restricted-access Census project examining the effects of minimum wage increases on childcare firms. These projects were sponsored in part by the Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy and the 2024 W.E. Upjohn Institute/RSF Dissertation Grant Program.

I am also actively pursuing projects studying 1) the effect of magnet school openings on academic, racial, and socio-economic classroom segregation through an approved project with the Texas ERC, 2) the effectiveness of school health programs in New York City through a partnership with the Office of School Health, and 3) the effect of student’s course taking behavior on their labor market outcomes through a partnership with Burning Glass Institute and University of Michigan’s College and Beyond II Initiative.

During my time as a PhD student, I also began working as an economist with the Burning Glass Institute where I examined labor market outcomes and the return on investment for higher education through partnerships with the University of North Carolina system and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

I would be happy to discuss my work, applying to graduate school, the trade-off between MA and PhD programs, or my time working at BGI or studying at Cornell. Feel free to get in touch by email ks2373@cornell.edu.