Sujatha Rao

Biography

Sujatha started her career as a management professional working with corporate organizations in India and overseas. She then moved into the area of vocational education and training wherein she focused on structuring educational opportunities for disadvantaged communities such as migrant groups and indigenous populations. She worked closely with the New South Wales Department of Education and Training and with the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) NSW, Australia in developing accredited programs in a variety of vocational areas. She also led training/design teams working on implementation of educational reform projects and capacity development of individuals in education through the design and development of various training programs. She has worked as a consultant for various organizations on organizational restructuring, leadership development and change management initiatives. She moved into academics and research in 2003 with the University of Western Sydney and later at the University of Sydney. She has taught at the University of Western Sydney and the University of Sydney on Human Resource Management, Principles of Management and International Human Resource Management. She is also a certified train-the-trainer. Over the last decade, her interest and research has been in studying human interactions in organizational settings and to explore the various ways in which human agency is shaped by and shapes organizational practices. Sujatha is a Post-Doctoral Associate of the International Centre for Research in Organizational Discourse, Strategy and Change and a member of the NHRD network in India. She also works with NGOs on issues of sustainable living, and inclusive education. Academic Qualifications Sujatha has a Post Graduate Degree in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations from XLRI Jamshedpur Masters in Human Resource Management from the University of Western Sydney PhD in Organisational Studies from the University of Sydney Her research work focused on issues of knowledge sharing, psychological contracts, alternate forms of employment, and professional identities. Areas of Interest Sujatha's interests cover a range of areas across educational and organizational studies. More recent interests include exploring issues of leadership and identity in the context of schools in India, culture and leadership, organizational discourse and critical approaches to organizational studies and leadership, knowledge management and communities of practice and exploring schools as organizations. She is interested in exploring issues of structure and agency within schools and the development of collaborative work practices in schools and other organizations

Research Interest

Sujatha's current research focus is on developing a contextual understanding of educational leadership and its impact on schools, particularly school effectiveness. She is involved with an in-depth empirical study on school leadership in Karnataka covering a number of districts and schools in the state. She is also piloting a research study on cultural and identity influences on leadership practices in India.