Aspasia Bizopoulou, Research Associate, Department of Economics and Related Studies and IMRY Fellow

Aspasia has a PhD in Economics from the University of Edinburgh and a BSc in Economics and Philosophy from the University of Warwick. 

In her research she uses econometric methods to answer policy-relevant questions in the fields of health, education, and gender.

email: aspasia.bizopoulou@york.ac.uk

Our 60-second interview with Aspasia:

Could you please tell us what work you do in the field of mental health?

My work is at the intersection of education and mental health. Currently, I study how a diagnosis for a mental-health related disorder such as autism or ADHD may affect children’s academic trajectory. In particular, I am interested in understanding whether diagnosed children experience systematic bias by the schooling establishment and whether simple measures could be put in place to improve their experience. 

What do you find most rewarding and inspiring in this work?

I’m still relatively new to the field of mental health so I am really looking forward to learning more about this topic. I am lucky to be able to work with high-quality anonymised administrative data linking a student’s health information to their academic performance and their teacher. I also have the privilege to work with great co-authors and mentors.

What is the most challenging or complicated aspect of this work?

Access to high-quality data and working on an important topic like mental health brings the responsibility of executing the research correctly. Administrative datasets are enormous, with millions of individual observations. The researcher makes decisions about what to keep in the analysis and what to discard. I usually worry about making mistakes and saying things that are unreasonable or just not true. Presenting and discussing the work is very helpful for getting a sense that things are progressing in the right direction.

What impact do you hope your work is having - or can potentially have?

In my research I choose to work on policy-relevant questions. However, I am aware that it takes several years for research findings to reach the real world. With that in mind, I do not worry too much about the impact of any individual piece of research but focus instead on producing as good a study as I can. What I hope for is that my work will add to our knowledge of the relationship between mental health and schooling and that it may one day inspire younger students to enter the path of research.

Could you share with us one piece of advice that you follow for your own mental health?

I’ve got two little kids, so life is busy and chaotic. Meeting with other mums, singing in a choir and cooking nice meals for the family are things that I find fun and relaxing when it all gets a bit much!