Profile
Keywords: Highly Skilled Migration, Migration Decision making, Migrant Health and Well-being
With more than twelve years of expertise as a researcher and a development practitioner, Ashika Niraula has expertise in the issues of migration, development, inequalities, social change, inclusion, gender, and qualitative research. Ashika’s research interest includes exploring diverse and complex migrant biographies and in particular, how migrants story their life trajectories as they move across the national, social, and cultural borders. Her research broadly investigates migrant’s decision-making, identity formation, agency, social determinants of health, settlement, integration, networks and political activism.
Ashika holds a Ph.D. degree in Educational Anthropology from Aarhus University in Denmark, with a focus on highly educated migrants and their encounters with Danish institutions. In her Ph.D. project, she examined the ways highly educated migrants reflected upon their encounters with the Danish immigration authorities, the Danish labor market, and the Danish society, and how they talked about such encounters shaping their understanding of being a ‘highly skilled’ migrant. She completed her MPhil degree in Gender and Development from the University of Bergen, Norway, and a Master’s degree in Rural Development from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
In her current Postdoctoral project, Ashika explores the drivers of international highly skilled migration and how the pandemic has affected the decision-making of prospective highly skilled migrants in a disrupted and uncertain COVID19 world. Ashika also worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in an interdisciplinary project on immigrant settlement and social determinants of health in rural Canada at the University of Toronto Mississauga. As a Research Associate, she was involved in a project on Indian female migrants in Canada during the COVID 19 pandemic at the University of Guelph. She also taught as a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada (Migration and Health course), and at Aarhus University, Denmark (Anthropology of Education and Globalization course). Ashika has prior experience working as a Research Assistant at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Aarhus University, Denmark.
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Projects
Building Blocks for International Student Success TRS2 3.1 Toronto Metropolitan University Conference 2024-11-21 TRS2 3.1 Building Pathways to Success: Strengthening Services to Improve Employment and Immigration Opportunities for International Students in Canada In an evolving policy environment, developing fair and accessible immigration
pathways for international students is critical to creating an inclusive society where
they can thrive. Panelists will discuss strategies to enhance services and
infrastructure, improve employment outcomes for international students, and
develop ethical recruitment best practices for Canadian universities and colleges.TRS2 1.1 Toronto Metropolitan University Conference 2024-11-20 TRS2 1.1 The Digital Im/migrant: IS in Migration Governance, Work, and Life This panel explores how digital technologies shape the migration experience across governance, labor, and decision-making. While digital systems increasingly organize citizens’ lives, their role in shaping migrants’ experiences is less visible, especially for those navigating unfamiliar institutions and limited legal status. Drawing on empirical research, this panel examines tensions in how digital infrastructures affect migrant-state relations and platform-mediated labor markets. Panelists address topics such as the modernization of immigration institutions, social media use in migration planning, digital labor recruitment across the Americas, and algorithmic control in gig work. In dialogue with core IS concerns—sociotechnical systems, platform governance, and information-seeking behavior—the panel situates digital migration systems within broader political, structural, and ethical contexts. This interdisciplinary session fosters debate on tensions between technological innovation and equity. By tackling these issues, the panel invites IS scholars to see migration as a vital context for rethinking inclusion, infrastructure, and institutional transformation.TRS4 2.1.2 Toronto Metropolitan University, Concordia University Conference 2025-08-14 Seguel, P. ,
Paquet, M. ,
Niraula, A. ,
Coderre, M. ,
Baril, É. ,
Monteiro, S. TRS4 2.1.2 Americas Conference on Information Systems This panel explores how digital technologies shape the migration experience across governance, labor, and decision-making. While digital systems increasingly organize citizens’ lives, their role in shaping migrants’ experiences is less visible, especially for those navigating unfamiliar institutions and limited legal status. Drawing on empirical research, this panel examines tensions in how digital infrastructures affect migrant-state relations and platform-mediated labor markets. Panelists address topics such as the modernization of immigration institutions, social media use in migration planning, digital labor recruitment across the Americas, and algorithmic control in gig work. In dialogue with core IS concerns—sociotechnical systems, platform governance, and information-seeking behavior—the panel situates digital migration systems within broader political, structural, and ethical contexts. This interdisciplinary session fosters debate on tensions between technological innovation and equity. By tackling these issues, the panel invites IS scholars to see migration as a vital context for rethinking inclusion, infrastructure, and institutional transformation.TRS4 2.1.2 Concordia University, Toronto Metropolitan University Conference 2025-08-16 Paquet, M. ,
Seguel, P. ,
Niraula, A. ,
Coderre, M. ,
Baril, É. ,
Monteiro, S. TRS4 2.1.2
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