Before joining the University of Saskatchewan, Kelly held an assistant professorship at the Copenhagen Business School. She earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of British Columbia in 2009. Prior to her doctoral studies, Kelly was a Research Associate at the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation. Kelly’s research interests include labour economics and the economics of education. Her doctoral research focused on the determinants of educational attainment and included an examination of whether neighbourhood characteristics affect the probability that young Canadians attend university.