About Pooja B.Vijayakumar

Pooja previously worked as an Engineer (with Masters Level of education in Electrical Engineering) with several clients from diverse domains at Cisco Systems and Dell SecureWorks.

Being an Indian expatriate herself, she began understanding the differences in work/non-work cultures and that how these differences were affecting her work/non-work environment. In order to understand these issues in depth and to develop a healthy and positive work-place model, she chose to pursue a Master’s of Science degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), USA. Her goal was to learn about relevant psychological theories and principles and gain research experience. Upon receiving her MS degree, she chose to follow it up with a Ph.D. program in Management at the University of Limerick, Ireland in order to continue her research work in cross-cultural and expatriate management.

She has successfully collaborated and published papers with some of the most experienced and well-known researchers in the I-O psychology and International business domain. As a first author her work on high skilled immigration in the US has been referred by top media outlets such as Bloomberg, The Economist, Press Trust of India, Bloomberg Quint, Mercury News, etc. (please see media references). Also, her research work has been referred by FWD.US (group formed by leading tech leaders in the Silicon Valley) and the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation (formed after Senator Orrin G. Hatch - He holds the record of having passed more legislation than any other senator alive today authoring 112 bills, and co-sponsoring 638 bills, that have become law). Additionally, her research study as first author on global and HR leadership also won the best paper award in the international business category at the Academy of Management and Irish Academy of Management (please see my publications). She has also presented her research work at conferences such as (SIOP) Society of Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Academy of Management, Irish Academy of Management, and (WSH) Work, Stress, and Health (please see conference presentation). She volunteers as a member for the SIOP International Affairs Committee and actively contributes to her profession and community.

Aside from my active research, she has also taught People analytics, Statistics and Research method to students in the Department of Psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA and Department of Management at the University of Limerick, Ireland. She finds interacting with students, motivating them to perform well in class, and witnessing the positive growth at the end of each semester a very rewarding experience.

She currently lives with her husband and two dogs in Atlanta, GA. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, long bike rides and walks with her dogs.

EDUCATION