Featured

Hi, there!

I am a community-centered and impact-oriented researcher who uses qualitative and quantitative methods to uncover the socio-technical practices of underserved and disadvantaged communities. Currently, I am a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Technology, Innovation and Competition at the University of Pennsylvania, and working on 1 World Connected project that examines the social and economic impact of Internet connectivity initiatives around the world through case studies and controlled trials. I received my Ph.D. in Communication and Information at Rutgers University, with a focus on adoption and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by disadvantaged and underserved communities. Prior to that, I was a USAID Research and Innovation fellow at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where I worked on an ICT for development (ICTD) project, examining the measurements of impact, sustainability, and development in ICTD research. Recently, I worked on a consultant project for a needs assessment on the promotion of entrepreneurship among youth in Sri Lanka as a YouLead! Fellow funded by USAID.

Along with my research trajectory, I examined the impact of mhealth application for pregnant women in rural Nepal, social and economic impact of Internet connectivity in rural Rwanda, ICT adoption and use of immigrant women entrepreneurs in New York City, broadband adoption by low-socio economic communities in the U.S., and social media use by media organizations in Afghanistan. As a member of 1 World Connected Project, I am affiliated with various research teams including Pew Research Global Mobile, The GSMA Connected Women, IEEE Internet Inclusion Initiative, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) EQUALS Initiative, World Economic Forum (WEF) Internet for All Initiative, Internet Societ’s (ISOC) Beyond the Net grant program, Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Connecting and Enabling the Next Billions Phase III (CENB-III) Initiative, IGF Dynamic Coalition on Innovative Approaches to Connecting the Unconnected, Digital Impact Alliance, and mSTAR/USAID.

On a personal note, I’m of Turkish descent and got my bachelors in Psychology at Bogazici University in Istanbul. My name “Müge” comes from the French word Muguet and pronounced as Mew-geh (Audio Paris). When I’m not doing research, I’m likely listening to an interesting podcast, biking, swimming, hiking or planning for an adventurous trip. Currently, I’m writing about one of those trips and retrospectively trying to make sense of how I survived from my first cross-country motorcycle trip in Vietnam.

Email me at mhaseki[at]law[dot]upenn[dot]edu if you would like to hear more or to collaborate. I would like to hear from you too!

Impact of M-Health on Pregnant Women in Nepal

  • Randomized control by cluster on the impact of mhealth application on ANC visits of pregnant women in rural Nepal (2018) – As a part of my postdoc research, I did two focus groups with healthcare workers and pregnant women to understand their current practices on sharing and seeking health information. In collaboration with a local partner, we identified +55 health facilities to do a randomized control trial to measure the impact of different information sources (message, audio, video) on the ANC visits of pregnant women in rural Nepal as well as on health outcomes.
  • Methods | focus groups

Assessment of Entrepreneurship Environment for Youth in Sri Lanka

  • The Youth Employment and Business Start-up Program (YouLead!) Sri Lanka (2018) – As a YouLead! Fellow funded by USAID, I worked on a project that focuses on enhancing employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for youth in Sri Lanka. During a 3-week long fieldwork in Colombo, I conducted focus groups with key actors in government and private institutions and did a needs-assessment to identify the opportunities and challenges for entrepreneurship among youth in Sri Lanka.
  • Methods | focus groups

Social and Economic Impact of Internet Connectivity in Rwanda

  • Controlled trial on the social and economic impact of Internet connectivity in Rwanda (2017) – As a part of my postdoc research, we did a controlled trial on the impact of Internet connectivity at the community level in 30 sites in Rwanda. Short video about this research can be found here. (Supervised by Prof. Christopher Yoo)
  • Methods | in-depth interviews, survey, experiment

1 World Connected

  • Case study project on the ICT-related initiatives around the world (2017) – As a part of my postdoc research, I conducted +120 interviews and led a research team to write 100 case studies on the ICT-related initiatives and projects around the world, carried out by governments, international organizations, the business sector, and civil society across various domains including education, health and financial inclusion. (Supervised by Prof. Christopher Yoo)
  • Methods  | in depth interviews, case study analysis