Nasra M. Shah

Visiting Toronto Metropolitan University

Fall 2024

Research focus while a CERC Scholar

The Pakistani diaspora in Canada is estimated to number about 223,000. The actual number living in Canada is expected to be much larger. During her visit, Nasra will focus on analyzing the socio-demographic and economic profile of this group based on secondary data. Nasra will also collect some primary data by conducting focus group discussions with selected professionals and their families. The initial work will form the basis of a larger study to look at transnational linkages of Pakistani migrants in Canada, their sense of identity and belonging to the host country, and their future plans. 

Career achievements

Nasra M. Shah is Professor of Migration and Development at the Lahore School of Economics, Pakistan. She is the Scientific Director of the Gulf Labor Markets & Migration Program of the Gulf Research Center based in Geneva and Riyadh. Prior to returning to her Pakistan, she was Professor of Demography at the Department of Community Medicine and Behavioral Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University for over 30 years. Prof. Shah received her doctoral degree in Population Dynamics from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA, in 1974. Before joining Kuwait University, she worked in Hawaii, USA at the East-West Population Institute and at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad. She has served as a member of the Editorial Boards of Asian and Pacific Migration Journal; Migration and Development; and International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Relevant publications

Books

Shah, N. M. (Ed.). (2024). Social Remittances and Social Change: Focus on Asia and Middle East. Lahore School of Economics, Lahore, Pakistan

Editor. (2021). Covid-19 and Migration Impacts in Asia. Lahore School of Economics, Lahore, Pakistan.

With Fargues, P., (Eds.). (2018). Migration to the Gulf: Policies in sending and receiving countries. Cambridge: Gulf Research Centre Cambridge.

With Fargues, P. (Eds.). (2017). Skillful Survivals: Irregular Migration to the Gulf. Gulf Research Center, Cambridge University.

Editor. (1986). Pakistani Women: A Socioeconomic and Demographic profile. Islamabad and Honolulu: Pakistan Institute of Development Economics and East-West Centre (USA).

With Arnold, F. (Eds.). (1986). Asian Labor Migration: Pipeline to the Middle East, Westview press, Colorado, U.S.A.

With Alkazi, L. (2022). COVID-19 and threats to irregular migrants in Kuwait and the Gulf.  International Migration. 61(2), 138-153.

Journal Articles

With Alkazi, L. & Hussain, A. (2021). Recent Fertility Change & Differentials among Kuwaitis: Some Implications for Future Migration. Journal of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies, No. 183, 13-36.

(2011). Kuwait’s Revised Labour Laws: Implications for National and Foreign Workers. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 20 (3-4):339-364.

With Badr, H. E., & Shah, M. A. (2011). Foreign live-in domestic workers as caretakers of older Kuwaiti men and women: sociodemographic and health correlates. Ageing and Society, 32(6), 1008-1029.