Author: Lien Pham

Dr Lien Pham is an independent researcher with over 40 publications in education and rights-based development, political participation in non-democracies, diaspora and postcolonialism. She is currently serving as Director of Research and Evaluation at Thrive Networks/East Meets West Foundation delivering a portfolio of projects and studies in climate change adaptation in Southeast Asia.

From Measuring Access to Practising Justice: Why Indigenous Data Sovereignty Matters for Evaluation

December 22, 2025

For many years, evaluation in higher education equity has been dominated by a familiar set of questions: Who gets in? Who stays? Who completes? These questions matter. But they are also deeply limited. They privilege institutional accountability over student experience, numerical indicators over lived realities, and compliance over justice. They rarely ask harder questions about … More From Measuring Access to Practising Justice: Why Indigenous Data Sovereignty Matters for Evaluation

How schools respond to COVID-19 disruption of Year 12 HSC says a lot about entrenched inequality in Australia’s education system

August 11, 2021

The COVID-19 lock down in Greater Sydney has thrown chaos in the HSC trials, but how schools choose to handle this disruption says a lot about inequality of Australia’s education system, which is deeply rooted in the mindset and practices of teachers and principals. On Tuesday 1oth August, the principal of Gosford High School, a … More How schools respond to COVID-19 disruption of Year 12 HSC says a lot about entrenched inequality in Australia’s education system

MasterChef Australia and the reality of reality TV

June 14, 2021

I have been watching MasterChef Australia for some time. One part of me is drawn to the idea of watching ordinary dishes turned into something so remarkable simply through the art of plating. Another part of me enjoys the competitive tasks and people’s creativity. It’s hard to not like a show where ordinary people are … More MasterChef Australia and the reality of reality TV