Psychology Alumna, Aditi Sachdev receives PhD in Industrial / Organizational Psychology from Hofstra University, USA!

 

Dr Aditi Sachdev
Dr Aditi Sachdev

Under the supervision of Associate Professor Dr Kevin Nolan of the Applied Organizational Psychology Faculty, she investigated how interviewers’ biases influence unstructured interview processes. Specifically, she examined how decision makers’ (interviewers’) choice of interview questions was influenced by applicant nationality, their domestic experience, and decision makers’ xenophobia.

Aditi’s research involved how American recruiters were asked to read LinkedIn profiles of American, Chinese, Mexican, Polish, or Nigerian applicants and then asked to choose interview questions for the applicant they reviewed. Her results seem to imply that decision makers had more concerns about cultural fit of the immigrants, which lowered their chances of opportunities to demonstrate their job proficiency, especially when they had foreign experience and interviewers’ xenophobia was high, leading to conclusion that hiring based on ‘culture-fit’ prejudice and bigotry during the hiring process. This highlighted the need to use structured interviews to a certain extend in making sure interviewing process is done with more fairness.
 

Aditi at the end of her viva in which she successfully defended her thesis
Aditi at the end of her viva in which she successfully defended her thesis


Aditi is currently working with the Corporate Talent Management and Organizational Development team at PepsiCo in New York. She currently manages PepsiCo’s leadership development program, managing programs that help foster continuous learning culture at the workplace, in addition to managing Summer Camps to employees’ kids in order to help them have a work life balance. “The knowledge and skills that I gained during my academic training in Industrial and Organisational (I/O) Psychology helps me perform my job substantially. To name a few I/O skills that I use at work, I develop survey and analyze data to help make better decisions, I utilize latest research and theoretical models in the field and help foster learning culture” said Aditi.

Aditi highlighted the importance of having a Talent Management and Organizational Development (TMOD) team in any organizations to supports employees to be more effective in achieving their goals through personal development. This ensures that organizations retain high-performing employees and improve business performance through practices that enhances employee productivity. Especially, during this Covid-19 situation, TMOD seeks to help employees to build resiliency during this difficult time. Acknowledging that working from home brings another dynamics of stress to employees, this is what TMOD currently is focusing on.

Apart from her full-time job, Aditi also works as an Adjunct Instructor at various universities and teach Research Design and Psychological Statistics to Undergraduate students, and as part of Employee Selection to Graduate students. Now having completed her PhD, Aditi stated that her doctoral studies have taught her how to think critically, be persistent, and take criticism well. She said, “These three qualities have helped me develop and strive to be better personally as well as professionally. I can successfully manage large-scale projects that require the ability to think critically, solve problems in a creative manner, and learn through mistakes.”

Hailing from Gujarat, India, and Aditi learnt about Sunway College and Sunway University through her father’s friend. Graduating from the Canadian International Matriculation Program (CIMP) at Sunway College, she went on to complete the BSc (Hons) in Psychology at Sunway University. She lauded the Department of Psychology for having staff members of diverse expertise in fields of psychology which allows students to get to know more about the range of topics in psychology. She highlighted the importance of undergraduate students taking initiative in understanding the field of psychology.  

Aditi specially thanked her undergraduate supervisor, Associate Professor Dr Lin Mei-Hua, who was extremely patient with her and supportive when she was exploring to venture into the I/O field and that helped develop her interest in this field, despite initially being interested in clinical psychology. Reflecting on her psychology programme at Sunway, Aditi suggested that it should have more I/O related subjects, as it is a great field with numerous opportunities. She also thanked Sunway University for giving her the opportunity to interact with other students from different parts of the world. This has helped her indirectly to work with people from different cultures, to share, and leverage on multiple ideas and perspectives. Interacting with other students and the exposure to a different education system has given her a strong foundation to work with various groups of people.

Dr Lin recounted, “I am extremely proud of Aditi and her achievements. I will always remember Aditi as a student with a keen interest in understanding diversity in the workplace. She took up the challenge to conduct a cross-cultural research for her final year project titled, A Cross-Cultural Study of Job Satisfaction, Organisational Commitment and Intrinsic and Extrinsic Work Motivation of Employees in India and Malaysia. I am glad that I was able to impress upon her the field of I/O psychology and research in cross-cultural work behaviours, and to see her continued interest in graduate school.” Throughout the years Aditi kept in touch with Dr Lin, she would share her experiences and thoughts about graduate school, her class assignments, and research. “Aditi was proactive to collaborate on internal grant applications while working on her Masters and PhD. Continually learn and don’t be afraid to try! – Aditi has done it.”” added Dr Lin.

After graduating from Sunway University, Aditi worked with a HR consultancy back in her home town, which helped to further bolster her interest in the field I/O Psychology. She then completed an MA in I/O Psychology at Hofstra University, New York and continued into a PhD programme, as she truly enjoyed the course, research and the department.

Aditi at her MA in I/O Psychology graduation at Hofstra University
Aditi at her MA in I/O Psychology graduation at Hofstra University

As Aditi ponders about her future, she hopes to continue working in the industrial/organizational field and help support talent. She finds it very satisfying helping working individuals to achieve their goals in lives through development of leadership, especially among minorities. One advice she has for those currently studying psychology, is to “keep an open mind, not fear failure, and find ways to grow!”. Having failed her first quiz for the Introduction to I/O Psychology subject, she disliked the subject to a great extent, only to realize how important industrial organizational psychology is and how much she likes it. She also advises students to not to be afraid of failing but be persistent. “Learn as much as you can and do not fear failure” she added. Since failing her first APA style research paper, she has now published a few research articles and a book chapter. So, she has come a long way to succeed and is continuing to succeed. What Aditi would advise working adults from her expertise in I/O Psychology is, “To value professional relationships and never burn the bridge. You might not need help from someone today, but that person can help bring a significant change in your career in the future”.  

We, at the Department of Psychology are truly proud of Dr Aditi Rabindra Sachdev for not just completing her PhD but also for passionately sharing her expertise and skills in both academia and the professional community. We wish her all the best of successes in the future, and we thank her for having chosen Sunway as her launchpad to further studies.