Aye Lei Tun

Aye Lei Tun from Mandalay holds a master’s degree in development Practice from the University of Queensland and Gender, Human Rights, and Conflict Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. She completed her Ph.D. program in Political Science at McMaster University, Canada, in 2026. She has a background in journalism with local newspapers and media and communications (for UNODC, UNDP, and Oxfam). She works as a Research Consultant for Gender and Media related studies. Aye Lei is a published author - under the pen names Myat Shu, Thawda Thit, and Thawda Aye Lei. Her research interests are issues related to Gender and Sexuality, Gender and Politics, Media, and Cultural studies.

Education:

June 2002 - March 2005 - B.A (French), University of Foreign Languages, Mandalay, Myanmar

March 2014 - December 2015 - Master of Development Practice (Adv), University of Queensland, Australia

September 2015 - December 2016 - Master of Human Rights, Gender and Conflict Studies (Social Justice Perspective), International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Netherlands

September 2021 – July 2026 - Ph.D. in Political Science (Comparative Politics), McMaster University, Canada

Awards:

September 2012 - Australia Award, Australian Development Scholarships, given by the Australian Government

July 2015 - NFP Fellowship, given by the Government of the Netherlands

March 2021 - A Graduate Scholarship from McMaster University, Canada

October 2021 - UBC-IDRC Award, The University of British Columbia, Canada

May 2022 - The 2022 Global Scholar-in-Community Fellowship, from McMaster University

August 2023 - IDRC-UBC Burma Research Grant

March 2024 - SEAREG Pre-dissertation Fellowship, Duke Sanford University

April 2025 - CSEASI Award

Professional Experience:

2015 - to date - Trainer for gender awareness and research methodology training
2015 - to date - Research consultant for gender, media and cultural related studies
September 2021 – August 2026- Teaching Assistant and Course Instructor at McMaster University
March 2024 - to date - Board Member of the Myanmar Women in Media (MWIM)
2015 – 2017 - Steering Committee Member of Association of Myanmar Disabled Women’s Affairs
March 2017 - February 2021 - Senior Program Manager (Livelihoods & Gender) of Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation (EMReF)
March 2009 - December 2013 - Executive Editor (Part-time) at The Light of Mandalay Weekly Newspaper
June 2012 - March 2013 - Communications Officer at Food Security Working Group (FSWG), Myanmar
November 2009 - December 2011 - Communications Officer at Oxfam, Myanmar
December 2008 - October 2009 - Communications and Reporting Officer at UNDP, Myanmar
December 2007 - November 2008 - Information and Publication Officer at UNODC, Myanmar
June 2005 - November 2007 - Senior Reporter at The Myanmar Times Journal, Myanmar

List of Publications:

Aye Lei Tun. 2016. “Experiences and Expectations of Interpersonal Relationships: Women with Impairment in Myanmar.” International Institute of Social Studies (ISS). https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/37331.

Aye Lei Tun. 2017a. Gender Engagement in Wildlife Conservation. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Aye Lei Tun. 2017b. “Gender Representation for Development in Myanmar Media (2010-2014).” Journal of South Asian Studies, no. 13: 33–60. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/43966.

Aye Lei Tun (Tea Circle Oxford). 2022. “Women’s Right to Citizenship Documentation.” December 9. https://teacircleoxford.com/politics/womens-right-to-citizenship-documen....

Aye Lei Tun. 2023a. “Deconstructing and Reinforcing Gender Norms and Cultural Taboos in Myanmar’s Spring Revolution.” Journal of Burma Studies 27 (1): 29–63.

Aye Lei Tun. 2023b. Peace and Prospects of Federalism for the Chin Community in Myanmar. Institute of Chin Affairs (ICA) and McMaster University. https://chinaffairs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Peace-and-Prospects-o....

Aye Lei Tun (Stimson Center). 2025. “How International Funding Shapes Myanmar Pro-Democracy CSOs’ Activism in the Post-Coup Era.” November 20. https://www.stimson.org/2025/how-international-funding-shapes-myanmar-pr....

Aye Lei Tun. 2026a. “CSO Resilience and Transnational Networks in Myanmar and Thailand.” McMaster University.

Aye Lei Tun. 2026b. “Women’s Agency in Armed Struggles in Myanmar’s Spring Revolution.” In Myanmar Rises: The Spring Revolution. ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute. https://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/8018#contents.

Aye Lei Tun, La Ring, and Su Su Hlaing. 2019. Feminism in Myanmar. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. https://asia.fes.de/news/feminism-in-myanmar.

Aye Lei Tun, and Emilie Lehmann-Jacobsen. 2020. Ethnic Media Study: Media Habits and Media Representations of Ethnic Minorities in Myanmar. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16838.50249.

Aye Lei Tun, and Netina Tan. 2024. “The Secret Garden of Candidate Selection and Women’s Political Participation.” In Putting Women Up: Gender Equality and Politics in Myanmar. ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute. https://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/7889.

Aye Lei Tun, and Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung. 2025. “Myanmar.” In Routledge Handbook of Autocratization in Southeast Asia, edited by Netina Tan and Yuko Kasuya. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003410904.

EMReF. 2017. A Baseline Survey of Yangon’s Garment Sector Workforce. Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation. https://www.emref.org/sites/emref.org/files/publication-docs/ygfdigital_....

EMReF. 2018. Gender Awareness in Myanmar Film Industry. Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation.

EMReF. 2019. Border Lives: Kachin-China Border. Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation. https://www.emref.org/sites/emref.org/files/publication-docs/border-live....

EMReF. 2020. Gender and Political Participation in Myanmar. Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation.

Myanmar Women Parliamentarian Network. 2024. Costs of Being A Woman in Politics: Experiences of Myanmar’s Women Politicians in the Post-Coup Resistance. Creative Home. https://wmpnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Eng-Costs-of-Being-a-W....

Tan, Netina, Paul Minoletti, Elin Bjarnegård, and Aye Lei Tun. 2020. Party Building and Candidate Selection – Intraparty Politics and Promoting Gender Equality in Myanmar. Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation.

References: Available upon request

Selected publications