LAILA MOURAD

Smiling woman with curly hair wearing a black blazer and white shirt, arms crossed, against a dark background.

I am a PhD candidate at the Department of Politics at York University, Toronto, Canada.

I adopt an interdisciplinary approach to research gender, labor and international development. Currently, I focus on home-based gig work in Egypt, where I look at the role of household economies and social reproduction in development. I examine how women gig workers use technology in their everyday life and how they re-imagine the meaning of work, agency, and economic justice.

I co-founded SWANA Feminist Collective, a collaborative student body advocating for alternative decolonial spaces in academia and beyond. In my personal life I train and coach kickboxing, to cultivate resilience and wellness.

Education

Ph.D. Political Science (2019-09 - Current)

York University - Canada

  • Majored in Comparative Politics, Women and Politics

  • Dissertation Topic: (Re)imagining work in ‘gig’ economies: The case of women’s home-based food vending in Egypt

Master of Arts (2015)

University of Toronto - Canada

  • Majored in Political Economy of International Development

  • Masters Thesis Topic: The Political Economy of Gender in Egypt

Honours Bachelor of Arts (2012)

University of Toronto – Canada

  • Majored in Political Science, minored in Economics

Affiliations

  • Member, COST Action Platform Work Inclusion Living Lab (P-WILL) 

  • Member, Association for Middle East Women Studies (AMEWS)

  • Member, American Political Science Association (APSA)

  • Member, Middle East Studies Association (MESA)

  • Fellow, Political Economy Summer Institute by Political Economy Project

  • Project Management Certificate, University of Toronto School of Continuing Education

  • Kickboxing Coaching and Club Instructor Certification, World Association of Kickboxing (WAKO) Canada

A picnic table in a park with a pink water bottle, a paper cup with floral design, and a closed laptop on it. The background features green grass, trees, and a clear blue sky.

Work Values

Social Change and Economic Justice

I collaborate to envision, design, and implement research that is community-centred and transformative

From Paper to Praxis

I bridge between paper and praxis, through policy research, community work, teaching and knowledge mobilization