Heather Evelyn Joshi, CBE, FBA, FAcSS (née Spooner; born 21 April 1946) is a British academic, economist, and demographer. She is Emeritus Professor of Economic and Developmental Demography at the University of London.^[1] She was Director of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies from 2003 to 2010.^[2]

Joshi was born on 21 April 1946 to Guy Malcolm Spooner and Molly Spooner; her parents were both biologists.^[3][4] She went to school in Devon, England.^[4] She studied politics, philosophy and economics at St Hilda's College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1967: as was traditional, her BA was later promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Oxon) degree.^[3][4] She undertook postgraduate studies in economics at St Antony's College, Oxford, graduating with a Master of Letters (MLitt) degree in 1970.^[3][4]

Joshi began her career as a junior research officer at the Institute of Economics and Statistics, University of Oxford (1969 to 1973), and an economic advisor with the Government Economic Service (1973 to 1979).^[3] She then joined the Centre for Population Studies at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), working as a research fellow (1979 to 1983) and senior research fellow (1983 to 1988).^[3][4][5] She moved to the Department of Economics of Birkbeck College, London, where she was a senior research fellow from 1987/1988 to 1990.^[3][5] She then returned to LSHTM where she had been appointed a senior lecturer.^[3]

From 1993 to 1998, she was Professor of Social Statistics at City University London.^[5] In 1994, she was appointed Deputy Director of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies.^[1] From 2000 to 2011, she was director of the United Kingdom's Millennium Cohort Study.^[6] In 2003, she was promoted to Director of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, and served in that role until 2010.^[1] She has been a research professor at the Institute of Education of University College, London since 2016.^[3]

In 1969, she married Vijay Joshi: they divorced in 1977.^[3][7] In 1982, she married for a second time to Gregory Hans David Martin. Together they had two children and step children from previous marriages.^[3]

In 2000, Joshi was elected Fellow of the British Academy (FBA).^[5] In the 2015 New Year Honours, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) 'for services to Longitudinal and Women's Studies'.^[8]

• Joshi, Heather; Joshi, Vijay (1976). Surplus labour and the city: a study of Bombay. Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195606317.
• Joshi, Heather, ed. (1989). The changing population of Britain. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0631165156.
• Joshi, Heather; Paci, Pierella (1998). Unequal pay for women and men: evidence from the British birth cohort studies. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0262100687.
• Davies, Hugh; Joshi, Heather (2000). The price of parenthood and the value of children. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.
• Dex, Shirley; Joshi, Heather, eds. (2005). Children of the 21st century: from birth to nine months. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. ISBN 978-1861346896.
• Scott, Jacqueline; Dex, Shirley; Joshi, Heather, eds. (2008). Women and employment changing lives and new challenges. Cheltenham, Uk: Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 978-1848442931.
• Hansen, Kirstine; Joshi, Heather; Dex, Shirley, eds. (2010). Children of the 21st century: the first five years. Bristol: Policy Press. ISBN 978-1847424761.
• Joshi, Heather; Jacobsen, Joyce P.; Robb, Robert Edgecombe; Burton, Jonathan; Blackaby, David H.; Humphries, Jane; Wang, Xiaobo; Dong, Xiao-yuan (July 2006). "Explorations: The Status of Women Economists". Feminist Economics. 12 (3): 427–474. doi:10.1080/13545700600669667. S2CID 154406329.