Carolina Rota

Carolina Rota is a DPhil candidate in International Development at St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, and a recipient of the ESRC DTP Grand Union Scholarship. Her doctoral research explores the spatial and social geographies of live-out, part-time domestic labour among migrant women in Delhi. Using ethnographic and visual methods, Carolina’s work captures the everyday experiences of women navigating informal work, urban space, and migration in the city. 

This research builds on her work with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) Bharat in Delhi, where she served as a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Associate. At SEWA Bharat, Carolina contributed to the design and implementation of community-led monitoring systems for a childcare program supporting informal women workers across 10 states in India. 

She holds an MPhil in Development Studies from Wolfson College, University of Oxford, where her thesis (recipient of the Papiya Ghosh Prize for Best Thesis) examined part-time domestic work in Mumbai, highlighting how women’s working lives invite a relational understanding of agency. Carolina also holds a BA in Philosophy, International Studies, and Economics with a Minor in Sustainability from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (International College of Merit), including a year-long exchange at Sciences Po, Paris.

She has contributed to research projects with the London School of Economics, Sciences Po, Pratham Education Foundation, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Mexico.