Melanie Zaber is an associate economist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND and codirector of the RAND Lowy Middle-Class Pathways Center. Her research interests span workforce development, postsecondary education, gender equity, and access to civil justice. Her research has examined household transitions (coresidence, marriage, divorce, bankruptcy), analyzed workforce pipelines (principals, military linguists, building tradespeople), and explored postsecondary finance (market power, state grant aid, student debt). Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Institute for Civil Justice, and the Social Security Administration. Current projects include an exploration of the persistence of women in STEM careers and an analysis of the longer-term education and career outcomes of participants in a high school youth development program.
