I obtained a doctorate in Applied Social and Economic Research from the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex in 2004. My doctoral thesis was entitled “Economic, Social and Cultural Capital: Predictors of Social Position and Determinants of Life Outcomes.” Prior to this, I had obtained an MA (Sociology) from the University of Calgary and a BA (Honours) from the University of Alberta.

While doing my PhD, I worked as a Research Officer at the Institute of Social and Economic Research. I was active in many research projects there, including UNICEF funded project which examined the correlates of young parenthood the European Union. Follow-up work to this was funded by the UK Department of Health and focused on the differences in the socioeconomic disadvantages of early mothers by ethnic groups in Britain. I continue to study the correlates of young parenthood in the UK, Canada, and beyond.

I joined the Department of Sociology at York University in 2004.  I have since held short post-doctoral positions at the Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning at the Institute of Education in London, UK (2006-2007) and The Geary Institute at University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland (2007-2008).