Dr Prakash’s Academic Journey from Labasa to Melbourne, Aust
‘FOR MY PHD THESIS, I RECEIVED A GOLD MEDAL (MOLLIE-HOLMAN AWARD) FOR THE BEST THESIS IN MY FACULTY’
After two years of waiting, Dr Kushneel Avneet Prakash finally got to wear his PhD gown. He completed his studies at the Monash University in Australia in 2020, but now he had the opportunity to take part in an in-person graduation, which had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The auspicious event happened on Monday as the 32-year-old was surrounded by family and friends.
Today, he is working as an Assistant Professor at University of Melbourne.
Background
Dr Prakash attended Vunicuicui Sanatan Dharam School in the outskirts of Labasa then to Khalsa College (then known as Shri Guru Nanak Khalsa Secondary School) in Labasa for Years 9 to 10. He later attended Labasa College from Years 11 to 13.
He did his Bachelor of Commerce programme majoring in Economics and Accounting at the University of the South Pacific and later did his Postgraduate Diploma in Economics and Masters by Research in Economics.
His studies at USP lasted from 2009 to 2011. He graduated in April 2012 and then graduated with Masters in Economics in September 2015.
He started his career as an accountant at Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) in Suva, but quickly realised his passion for academia.
“I then worked as a tutor and Assistant Lecturer at the School of Economics at USP from 2013 to 2016. I then moved to Melbourne to do my PhD from 2017 to 2020,” he said.
He moved to Melbourne on a Monash University Scholarship to do his PhD in Economics.
Dr Prakash was able to talk about his journey to gaining his PhD.
Monash University - PhD Economics
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“Doing PhD was a shared dream of my parents as they wanted to see me excel in my education. This dream became my ultimate motivation at school and university to always do better,” he said.
“I also figured out that I wanted to make my career in academia which would be my way of giving back to my community. Doing PhD in Economics and that too from one of the top ranked universities in Australia and indeed globally would equip me perfectly with skills and knowledge to do that.”
PhD research
“As part of my PhD, my research was titled ‘Three Essays on Subjective well being’. Subjective wellbeing, in a nutshell, is the study of happiness. This area of research focuses on what makes people happy, how to stay happy and the causes and consequences of being happy,” he said.
“This area of study is important as research shows that being happy translates into favourable economic outcomes for individuals and the economy at large. There is now increased consensus among economists and even policy makers are agreeing too that traditional measures like GDP to measure progress of a country do not really do justice to measure wellbeing of its citizens.
“Think about it, what is the ultimate goal of a policy? The answer lies in improving the lives of the people and whether someone’s life is improved lies in their own perception of how satisfied they are with their life. Look for example recent Government budgets of New Zealand.
“Overall wellbeing drives the decisions that they make, and they measure progress on a broader range of measures than the more traditional economic measures.
“Happy citizens mean active citizen participation, being satisfied with what they are doing, being less stressful, better mental health and being more productive day in and day out.
“In my research, I show that having a home owned by parents makes their children happy, rising housing wealth inequality and rising global commodity prices such as petrol prices makes people unhappy. I also show in my research that people who believe that things happening in their life are in their own control have better mental health outcomes.”
COVID-19 lockdowns
“I submitted my PhD after three years into the programme and was conferred for my degree in October 2020,” he said.
“However, because of COVID-19 lockdowns I did not attend an inperson ceremony as my parents could not be here in time for graduation.
“I deferred my graduation up to a point when my parents and brother could be here in Melbourne with us and that is when I graduated inperson on 19 December 2022. This graduation was also momentous as I got to share this achievement with my one-year old daughter beside me.”
Recent achievements
“For my PhD thesis, I received a gold medal (Mollie-Holman Award) for the best thesis in my faculty at Monash University in 2020. This was a huge achievement as there were many other talented PhD scholars from all over the world and to come up at the top, was an extraordinary achievement,” he said.
“After finishing my PhD in 2020, I got a Research Fellow (Assistant Professor) position offer from Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic and Social Research at The University of Melbourne. This is where I am at. Earlier this year, I was also awarded with the Melbourne Postdoctoral Fellowship award, which is a very competitive funding from The University of Melbourne.”
Dr Prakash’s family
Dr Prakash’s father, Satendra Prakash, is a Justice of Peace of Fiji. He is self-employed and is running his own business at Labasa market. His Initial background is a sugarcane labourer cutting cane and working on other people’s farm to earn a living in Vunicuicui, Labasa.
Dr Prakash’s mother, Arun Lata Prakash, is a secondary school teacher at Labasa Sangam College.
His younger brother Ronil Prakash, is a Certified Practicing Accountant by profession.
Dr Prakash is married to Reema Kumar, who hails from Yasiyasi, Tavua and together they have a one-year-old daughter, Keesha Prakash.
Ms Kumar is a Certified Practicing Accountant by profession and is working in Melbourne in an Audit company.
Early life
“Life in Vunicuicui while growing up was tough. Dad was cutting sugarcane and doing other labourer jobs while mum did domestic duties and joined him as and when needed to work on other people’s farms,” he said.
“We did not have all the comforts of life, but our parents always made sure we were looked after in the best possible way they could and got the best opportunity at education.
“I still remember my brother and I getting a weekly allowance of 15 cents from our parents to spend on school canteen and we were content with it.
“And when it was increased to 20 cents per week when I was in Class eight, those were the happiest moments.”
Inspirations
“My biggest inspiration in my life is my mum,” he said.
“The turning point in our life was when mum decided to go to USP to do her studies. She did that after being out of the school system for about15 years during which time she got married and had two children.
“She has been my biggest inspiration as she went to USP to do her diploma and then recently completed her Bachelor’s degree. She in my view is the ultimate definition of hard work, perseverance and determination.
Challenges as a student
“It is always tough to stay away from family and friends and generally from one’s comfort zones,” he said.
“But I was glad I had with me my life-partner, my wife who was with me by my side the entire life journey we planned together.
“Studying in Melbourne was also comforting enough as we knew it is just a six-hour plane ride and we get to be with family.”
Next step
“I am currently a Research Fellow (Assistant Professor) at the Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic and Social Research at The University of Melbourne,” he said.
“I am working on a project looking at private health insurance and how this improves people’s health and wellbeing.
“I am also working on a project that looks into the dynamics of financial literacy, people’s personality traits and how these interact in people’s wellbeing.
“My broad plan is to replicate studies relating to wellbeing in the context of Fiji and understand what drives happiness in the lives of Fijian people and what can be done to improve and sustain it.
“These are some of my next line of work I am planning on. Obviously these are going to be bigger projects as large scale representative surveys need to be carried out in Fiji.”
Message to readers
“Stay determined, focused and stay true to oneself. A big part of children’s success is due to parents’ continuous blessings and whatever you do in life, ask yourself, is your mum and dad to be proud of what you are doing? If the answer is yes, go for it,” he said.