Speakers Bios & Abstracts
Keynote Speakers
Inequality as an Analytical Lens: How Should We Think About Inequality in Our Scholarship?
How should we think inequality in our scholarship?
The problem of inequality has come to the forefront of global public consciousness. For scholars in the humanities, social and population sciences, this attention and interest presents opportunities. Within our disciplines, there are significant traditions for the study of inequality—how it works, whom it affects, how it is reproduced. It is also the case, however, that inequality is frequently treated as contextual backdrop or mere empirical phenomenon without being the center of critical analytic attention. Scholars can still do more to develop and enhance understandings about contemporary conditions of inequality. In this lecture, I explore the question of how scholarship can better center inequality as a critical, analytical lens; what happens to knowledge production when we do so; and what is at stake when we neglect to. On subjects that matter particularly to demographers—family formation and dissolution, fertility, migration, health, ageing—I hope to open up conversation about how research could take different forms and directions when inequality is a central analytic lens.
Associate Professor & Provost’s Chair in Sociology, Nanyang Technological University
Assoc Prof Teo You Yenn
A/P Teo You Yenn is an Associate Professor and Provost’s Chair in Sociology at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research focuses on poverty and inequality, governance and policy, gender and class inequalities. Her ongoing projects focus on care/welfare regimes and minimum income standards, examining the questions of what basic needs are in contemporary Singapore and what incomes people need to meet basic standards of living. She is also the author of Neoliberal Morality in Singapore: How family policies make state and society (Routledge, 2011) and This is What Inequality Looks Like (Ethos Books, 2018). She is a founding editor of AcademiaSG, which promotes Singapore studies and encourage critical public discourse about the state of intellectual life in Singapore. More information about her work at: https://teoyouyenn.sg
Measurement Complexities Facing Demographers Studying Inequality
While many population scientists are interested in studying unequal patterns and outcomes in fertility, mortality, migration, and beyond, a set of thorny measurement problems can create challenges. This talk will discuss examples of longstanding and contemporary challenges to conducting comparisons across socially relevant groups to map and explain differences and inequities.
Some challenges face those interested in comparison across contexts and/or over historical time in the availability and comparability of measures of sociodemographic factors such as educational attainment or self-assessed overall health. Data quality differences across contexts can also lead to unexpected and unrealistic findings. Demographers interested in a life course approach may face challenges collecting earlier life data retrospectively if there are variations between more and less advantaged groups in complexities of past histories, cognitive function in later life, and other factors. Challenges to collecting demographic data and sociodemographic identity measures continue to evolve.
This discussion can help to begin a conversation on how we may collectively begin to address such challenges as populations scientists focused on inequality and its potential reduction.
Professor Sarah Burgard
Professor of Sociology, Epidemiology and Public Policy
Sarah Burgard is Professor of Sociology and by courtesy, Epidemiology and Public Policy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. She is also a Research Professor and Director of the Population Studies Center at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. She conducts research on the social stratification of aging and health with population-based survey data, and has published extensively on the social factors underlying health disparities by socioeconomic status, gender, and race/ethnicity across the life course. Burgard leads U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) training grants for doctoral student and postdoctoral trainees at the PSC and a program for mentoring junior faculty in the population sciences, as well as co-leading an NIH funded-network on Life Course Health Dynamics and Disparities in 21st Century America. She is the current president of the Association of Population Centers and Vice-President Elect of the Population Association of America.
Director, Population Studies Center
Research Professor, Population Studies Center, University of Michigan
Tsao Foundation Panel Speakers
Ageing and Gender Intersectionality Evidence from A Cross-Sectional Study of Mature and Older Singaporean Workers
Senior Director at the International Longevity Centre Singapore
Susana Concordo Harding
Susana is Senior Director at the International Longevity Centre Singapore, an Initiative of Tsao Foundation. She is also Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at College of Nursing & Health Sciences at Flinders University, Australia.
Her policy and research interests are ageing and gender and its intersectionality, caregiving, financial security, community resilience, active and successful ageing, long term care, empowerment, and community development.
Susana graduated Cum Laude from the University of Santo Tomas (Manila, Philippines) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and holds master’s degree in public administration (MPA) from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore.
She is also the Honorary Treasurer of the Board of Directors at Centre for Seniors as well as a Council Member of the Gerontological Society of Singapore.
She was awarded the Ageing Asia Global Trailblazer Award at the 13th Eldercare Innovation Awards 2025.
The Lived Experience of Ageing Among Women: A Study on the Impact on Career, Financial Health and Mental Well-Being
Sugidha Nithiananthan
Director, Advocacy and Research, AWARE
Sugidha is a lawyer by training, having graduated from the National University of Singapore. She has more than 15 years of legal practice experience as a litigator and corporate lawyer and has conducted trials in the High Court and appeals at the Court of Appeal. She also has about 10 years’ experience as an in-house lawyer, having been the General Counsel for an MNC on an infrastructure project in Africa.
Sugidha used to volunteer with AWARE before joining it as its Director, Advocacy and Research. She oversees the research that AWARE conducts and leads its advocacy efforts to effect change.
Tomorrow's New Old: Singapore's Future Cohort of Ageing
CEO, Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO)
Koh Yan Ping
Ms Koh Yan Ping was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO) in January 2023. Under her leadership, SCWO has strengthened its role as the national coordinating body for women’s organisations in Singapore, championing gender equality through impactful advocacy, strategic collaborations, and enhanced support services.
Since joining SCWO, Ms Koh has played a pivotal role in expanding the reach and impact of key initiatives, including the Maintenance Support Central, the continued development of the Star Shelter, and the launch of the SCWO SAGE: Summit for Action on Gender Equality. She has also deepened engagement with SCWO’s diverse member organisations, fostering stronger collective advocacy on women’s issues.
Who Gets Left Behind? Understanding Inequality Through the Lens of Gender, Faith and Ageing
Assistant Director, Research and Engagement Department (RED), PPIS
Sabariah Aris
Ms Sabariah Aris heads the Research and Engagement Department (RED), the advocacy arm of PPIS – an organisation dedicated to inspiring women and strengthening families. As a member of PPIS’ Senior Management Team, she also oversees RED Space, a new initiative that provides holistic support for women’s professional development, legal empowerment, and wellness needs. With over 20 years of experience in both the public and private sectors, Sabariah brings a wealth of expertise in communications, public affairs, event management, and project coordination. Her work is driven by a deep commitment to amplifying women’s voices and promoting gender equity through research, advocacy, and community collaboration.