Dr. Shilpa Pandit is a trained psychologist and a development professional with a Ph.D. in Health in school contexts and more than a decade of research work experience in different domains of social and human development.
Dr. Pandit is a part of a group of Psychologists, prefer a non-Euro-American framework in teaching and practice of psychology in India. A segment of Dr. Pandit’s research has been in indigenous or Indian Psychology (IP), where, she has published several peer-reviewed papers in the area of yoga/meditation, Rasa –especially bhakti and vatsalya in the Indian psychology of emotions. She has served as a member of the UGC committee, in 2016 to revise the Psychology syllabi for UG, PG and PhD courses in India.
Over the past 9-10 years in specific, Dr. Pandit has been an expert researcher on gender, health, poverty and livelihoods and employability. She has contributed to conversations on social policy. From reviewing and writing the Human Development Report (DHDR) for Kanchipuram, in TN, in 2012-13; she worked as a UNDP Research Officer, at Ministry of Rural Development, GoI, with specific reference to MGNREGA from 2014 to 2016
Dr. Pandit worked with associates, collectives and organisations with a wide and interdisciplinary network – social sector organisations such as MSSRF, Hand in Hand, SIAPP, SEWA, multilateral donor agencies such as UNICEF and UNDP, universities such as the University of Madras, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute for Youth Development (RGNIYD), IFMR etc. and the State. Dr. Pandit has also co-founded an NGO ‘Dreampath Foundation’ (www.dreampathfoundation.org) focusing on careers and livelihoods for adolescents and youth
In social sector, Dr. Pandit’s last role as a Head – Monitoring and Evaluation – Hand in Hand (India), in one of India’s most credible and large NGO’s, gave her a bird’s eye view on the domains in social sector development, transformational approaches in NGO sector and corporate or private sector funding priorities through the new CSR law. Independently, she has also assessed and documented two interventions on malnutrition in rural India (Kerala and Maharashtra) and led a qualitative study on the perceptions about ‘cashless’ India among tiny, small merchants, in a tier II city (Jaipur) in India.
Education
- Ph.D. in Psychology
Professional Experience (Research/Teaching)
- UNDP Research Officer, at Ministry of Rural Development, GoI, with specific reference to MGNREGA from 2014 to 2016
- Head – Monitoring and Evaluation, Hand in Hand (India)
Interests
- Research: Social Sector and Public Policy | Transparency, accountability, civic and youth participation | Indian Psychology and teaching | Self and identity in Vedanta | Ayurveda | Yoga