The Fellows in our third cohort of the Population Analytics in an Aging Society training program have a range of disciplinary interests, professional experiences, and reasons that drew them to the CAnD3 program. Through our Fellows Features, we give you a glimpse of these interests, experiences, and reasons to capture the passion and drive our Fellows have for building more equitable and inclusive spaces in the context of aging societies. This month, we caught up with Fellows, Akwugo and Yue, to learn about their research and what they hope to learn from the program.
Featured image: Akwugo Balogun (left) and Yue Teng (right)
Akwugo Balogun
Akwugo published a children’s book in 2019 titled Smiling Days and Dancing Nights. The book is a collection of short folktales that combines themes of nature, animals, and family. Before joining the CAnD3 program, she was also a Chartered Accountant with extensive banking experience, leading and managing cross-sectional teams. With her passion for child literacy and economics, her current research focuses on addiction, including smoking and vaping. Akwugo says that “in the era where people like the young are exposed to various substances that can encourage unhealthy behaviors, I am interested in the policy solutions. Addiction causes internalities and externalities that can take a toll on our society”.
To this end, Akwugo is pursuing a PhD in Economics at McMaster University, studying population aging and health and public economics. Her background is in international economics and public policy, in which she completed her master’s degree at Cardiff University. With these varied experiences, she decided to join the CAnD3 program for the breadth of its network and the depth of the training.
In addition to being one of the Fellows, Akwugo is also bringing her leadership experience in finance to CAnD3, serving as the Chair of the Fellows Committee. The committee gives the Fellows the space to provide feedback and suggestions on the program. To act as a direct line of communication between the Fellows and the rest of the governing body, Akwugo is also a member of the CAnD3 Executive Committee, which provides intellectual and strategic direction to our training and operations.
In her spare time, Akwugo likes to play sports, write, paint, and bake. She hopes to write more children’s books in the future and continue to advocate for child literacy.
“I was interested in the CAnD3 program because it offers great opportunities for networking, learning, and deepening my knowledge of various software and skills relevant to my research. The interdisciplinary approach exposes me to various areas of research, particularly the interesting Lunch&Learn topics.” Akwugo says that she has gained new skills in data analysis and is learning practical ways to apply them through her CAnD3 experiential learning internship with Indigenous Services Canada (ISC).
Learn more about Akwugo and connect with her.
Yue Teng
Yue adopted a life course perspective to study work-family conflict among Canadian families for her master’s thesis. She focused on single mothers with young children, their coping strategies, and how they interacted with family policies. Yue’s research interests in family demography, fertility, and life course are deeply personal: “Growing up during the one-child policy generation in China, I am very interested in how society shapes fertility intentions and behaviors. I am also interested in how fertility and family structures change and are changed in association with aging populations.”
Yue is pursuing a PhD in sociology at the University of Western Ontario. Methodologically, she is focused on quantitative approaches and has worked extensively with survey data, including the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey, World Value Survey, and the Canadian General Survey. With the aim to deepen her data science and visualization skills to complement her formal quantitative training, Yue decided to join CAnD3.
“CAnD3 emphasizes an interdisciplinary data-driven approach in decision-making. This inspires me because it shows how my research can truly impact society and policymaking.” Yue also says that CAnD3 has provided her with the platform to connect with people both within and outside of academia, which has exposed her to a more extensive number of career and academic possibilities.
Yue enjoys watching criminal and spy series during her free time. She is also a big fan of spicy foods, especially Chinese hot pot. Her other love is traveling, which she has been doing by herself since she was 18. Yue has visited more than 10 countries and hopes to meet new people by exploring the world.
When asked about how she has found the CAnD3 experience thus far, Yue explained that there have been many chances to connect with her cohort and partners since the beginning of the program. “I learned that there are many possibilities and options for me after graduating school. I have enjoyed learning programming skills like R and Python and have been applying them to visualize the results of my own research!”
The CAnD3 Fellows, including Yue, are currently working on their e-portfolios to create a digital space to feature their research and work. Yue is taking on the challenge with an open mind and excitement for the learning process. We are excited to see Yue’s and other Fellows’ e-portfolios in the coming months.
Learn more about Yue and connect with her.
About the training program
°Őłó±đĚýPopulation Analytics in an Aging Society Training Program is a rigorous one-year fellowship hosted by the Consortium on Analytics for Data-Driven Decision-Making (CAnD3), funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and based at Ď㽶ĘÓƵ. The program upskills rising researchers in Master's, PhD, and postdoctoral programs in the areas of population data science and computational population social science from a multidisciplinary lens. It also connects Fellows to experiential learning opportunities, which include hands-on research projects and internships with government, not-for-profit, and private sector CAnD3 partners. Since the first year of the program in 2020, CAnD3 has trained 32 Fellows and welcomes 20 new Fellows for the 2022-23 Academic Year.
