Vandana works in the areas of historical sociology, political economy of development, environmental history and social theory.

Before joining Azim Premji University, she was a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur and at Western Connecticut State University where she taught a range of courses on Indian politics and society, Introduction to Sociology, Development theory, Globalization, Modern and Postmodern Societies and Sociology of Food, among others. Her Ph. D dissertation explores the political economy of 19^th century colonial India and the building of railroads in western India as a critical moment in the material and environmental history of the subcontinent.

Vandana has a PhD in Sociology from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Her research interests are in historical and contemporary development issues.

Currently, she is working on research projects on labour migration in India.