Teo You Yenn

Assoc Prof Teo You Yenn is Associate Professor and Provost’s Chair in Sociology at the School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. She is a leading sociologist whose research focuses on poverty, inequality, governance, gender, and class. She co-founded the Centre for the Study of Social Inequality (CSSI) at NTU and is a founding editor of AcademiaSG, promoting public scholarship in Singapore.

Her research interests include:

• Poverty and inequality
• Welfare and care regimes
• Minimum Income Standards (MIS)
• Public sociology and collective knowledge production
• Education as care labor
• Gender and class dynamics

Teo’s recent publications explore how education systems intensify parental care labor and how public sociology can be reimagined through collective engagement. Her work on the Minimum Income Standard in Singapore has significantly influenced public discourse on living wages and social inclusion. She advocates for a living wage grounded in the actual needs of households and emphasizes the importance of universal basic standards for dignity and belonging.

Her notable recognitions include authoring influential books such as This is What Inequality Looks Like (2018) and Neoliberal Morality in Singapore (2011). She has contributed to major policy discussions through op-eds, media appearances, and public speaking, including at the Institute of Policy Studies and the Singapore Economic Policy Forum.

She mentors emerging scholars through CSSI’s Junior Visiting Fellowship and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration. Her leadership in establishing CSSI reflects a growing institutional commitment to studying social inequality in Singapore.