Dr. Pearce received her Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Work from the University of Michigan.  She has held academic positions at the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois, and American University.

In addition to her Fulbright teaching and consulting responsibilities, Dr. Pearce has worked with women leaders, and conducted research on women’s equity issues in Central Asia.   She has also returned a number of times to Central Asia in addition to do applied research or consulting, including doing a survey of women’s organizations working on domestic violence (Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) for NOVIB/Oxfam (with Nodira Azimova), and helping with surveys of health practices in Fergana Valley (Uzbekistan), Most recently, she has engaged in lecturing and consulting with faculty from several Uzbek universities who are creating for the first time, the curriculum and profession of social work in Uzbekistan.

Widely recognized for coining the phrase, "the feminization of poverty", Dr. Pearce has written and spoken widely on women’s poverty and economic inequality, including testimony before Congress and the President’s Working Group on Welfare Reform.  Finally, Dr. Pearce is the creator of the Self-Sufficiency Standard—an alternative measure of income adequacy to the federal poverty standard—which is now found in thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia, with numerous updated or additional Standard-based studies currently underway.  See www.selfsufficiencystandard.org