Devah Pager was a Professor of Sociology and co-Director of the Joint Degree Program in Social Science and Social Policy at Princeton University. She was also Faculty Associate of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs and the Office of Population Research. Her research focused on institutions affecting racial stratification, including education, labor markets, and the criminal justice system. Pager's research has involved a series of field experiments studying discrimination against minorities and ex-offenders in the low-wage labor market. Her book, Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration (University of Chicago Press, 2007), investigates the racial and economic consequences of large scale imprisonment for contemporary U.S. labor markets. Pager held a Masters Degrees from Stanford University and the University of Cape Town, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She joined IZA as a Research Fellow in August 2008.

Devah Pager passed away in November 2018.