Malini Mittal
Bishnoi, Assistant Professor, Sociology & Allied Sciences, Amity University,
Dubai
Could you introduce yourself to our audience?
I’m an academician in social & behavioural sciences with Ph.D. in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India. With over 15 years of university teaching experience in Social, Behavioural & Allied Sciences, have also had the opportunity to serve at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) and at the Gulf University of Science and Technology (GUST). I come with several years of professional experience in the ‘development sector’ where I’ve served with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as well as large private organizations making an impact through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) wing. My journey includes research appointments at the Department of Education, University of Delhi and professional programs with Women and Rural Economic Development (WRED) Canada.
Could you walk us through your educational and professional journey and how it has shaped your career?
I believe that the universe has been guiding my journey in more than one way. For instance, one of my first projects right after my post-graduation in Social Work was as a research associate with a Senior Professor at the department of Education, University of Delhi under whose mentorship I undertook primary data research transcription & analysis. The same professor supervised my PhD 10 years later and played a central role in my decision to undertake a PhD much later in my career trajectory post my stint as a development professional.
My master’s in social work along with certification courses in Behaviour Change Communication, Counselling, Training the Trainers, leadership skill development, community outreach, and life skill training programs landed me as one of the chosen corporate trainers & students on soft skills and social well-being. The nine-month (WRED) program in Canada, where we were to be living with host families in Canada for a period of over four months, counselling high school students on skilled trade career options while our Canadian counterparts were to live in India for a similar amount of time, served as a major experiential learning curve. The transition from a student of Sociology, social work, psychology, economics to a cultural ambassador offered immense learning.
Another key turning point for me was my selection with the United Nations Development Program at age 23 when I was learning the nuances of the development sector. Here, I was reviewing the work of Non-Government Organizations, Civil Society Organizations, working with Government stakeholders and partnering with private organizations like McKinsey. This profile allowed me both a worm’s-eye view and a bird’s eye view of the development sector in India. With my academic learning and fieldwork during Masters, travel, work, and stay in Canada and work with a CSR foundation of a corporate house, I was constantly stringing and contrasting the world of the have’s and the have-nots going by the Marxian heuristic. Democratic etymology may describe it as change makers, change agents and change recipients). The shift from the development sector to academia for me was a progression from Observation, thinking and analysing to the dissemination of knowledge & skills to the most relevant audience, who I see as potential change makers for the social causes that they may choose to espouse. The discrepancies in policy making (Government organizations/ international organizations), execution (NGO’s, CSO’s and Private foundations) and the reception of change, I believe, are always experienced at very different stages for each subgroup irrespective of the hierarchy. Without sounding rhetorical, I do believe in the cosmic language of time, place, and circumstance. My choice of work, in brief, is greatly self-driven and learnt with raw curiosity and deliberated effort.
What inspired your passion for education, and what are the key areas of expertise that define your professional profile?
I view education as the sole means of attaining the change we wish to see in the world. It is the path to attaining independence in thought and action, aiming for the coveted wisdom, which for me cannot be limited to just experience without knowledge, just as much as simply attaining knowledge without experience.
I have been fortunate to keep working at constant knowledge upgradation while also experiencing the change that must be adapted to both advertently and inadvertently. This is to say that while my middle-class upbringing pushed me towards seeking greener pastures through education, the journey of seeking the exposures thus far on one’s own merit has been experiential. Working in different parts of the world contributed to my intercultural learning and developed a sense of respect and the ability to work with a diverse bunch of people and personalities.
My profile of work therefore represents this precise tractability with teaching, research, an advisory role, and, of course, that of student and faculty mentorship.
What are your current roles and responsibilities in your professional life?
Currently, I teach undergraduate and master’s students across the Law and Psychology programs at Amity University Dubai (AMUD). My subject areas are rooted in Sociology, Research, Education and Social Psychology. I head the Master of Education Program at AMUD. As a representative of the School of Humanities Arts and Applied Sciences (HAAS) in the University research committee, I am engaged with administrative verticals for overseeing Faculty research Grants and contribute to the policy development for the University. I’m also actively associated with the AMUD Centre for Teaching and Learning at AMUD as a faculty fellow.
Could you share details about your certifications, training, and publications that highlight your contributions to your field?
While I have had the opportunity of undertaking several certifications and trainings during my formative years, more recently I undertook a certification from Harvard, an online initiative by Harvard University. Here I was trained in a course called “Leaders of Learning. “Train the Trainers” is another course undertaken by me from our own (AMUD) Centre for Teacher Learning.
Besides these, there are periodic certifications taken on Research Methodology and Artificial Intelligence. Some of the previously undertaken training that has stayed with us has been Life skills and adolescents concerns by Dr. Premasunder Rajan, UNFPA, Resource Mobilization for development agencies by the Centre for Media Studies and Management skills for development agencies by Population Foundation of India.
Could you introduce yourself to our audience?
I’m an academician in social & behavioural sciences with Ph.D. in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India. With over 15 years of university teaching experience in Social, Behavioural & Allied Sciences, have also had the opportunity to serve at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) and at the Gulf University of Science and Technology (GUST). I come with several years of professional experience in the ‘development sector’ where I’ve served with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as well as large private organizations making an impact through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) wing. My journey includes research appointments at the Department of Education, University of Delhi and professional programs with Women and Rural Economic Development (WRED) Canada.
Could you walk us through your educational and professional journey and how it has shaped your career?
I believe that the universe has been guiding my journey in more than one way. For instance, one of my first projects right after my post-graduation in Social Work was as a research associate with a Senior Professor at the department of Education, University of Delhi under whose mentorship I undertook primary data research transcription & analysis. The same professor supervised my PhD 10 years later and played a central role in my decision to undertake a PhD much later in my career trajectory post my stint as a development professional.
My master’s in social work along with certification courses in Behaviour Change Communication, Counselling, Training the Trainers, leadership skill development, community outreach, and life skill training programs landed me as one of the chosen corporate trainers & students on soft skills and social well-being. The nine-month (WRED) program in Canada, where we were to be living with host families in Canada for a period of over four months, counselling high school students on skilled trade career options while our Canadian counterparts were to live in India for a similar amount of time, served as a major experiential learning curve. The transition from a student of Sociology, social work, psychology, economics to a cultural ambassador offered immense learning.
Another key turning point for me was my selection with the United Nations Development Program at age 23 when I was learning the nuances of the development sector. Here, I was reviewing the work of Non-Government Organizations, Civil Society Organizations, working with Government stakeholders and partnering with private organizations like McKinsey. This profile allowed me both a worm’s-eye view and a bird’s eye view of the development sector in India. With my academic learning and fieldwork during Masters, travel, work, and stay in Canada and work with a CSR foundation of a corporate house, I was constantly stringing and contrasting the world of the have’s and the have-nots going by the Marxian heuristic. Democratic etymology may describe it as change makers, change agents and change recipients). The shift from the development sector to academia for me was a progression from Observation, thinking and analysing to the dissemination of knowledge & skills to the most relevant audience, who I see as potential change makers for the social causes that they may choose to espouse. The discrepancies in policy making (Government organizations/ international organizations), execution (NGO’s, CSO’s and Private foundations) and the reception of change, I believe, are always experienced at very different stages for each subgroup irrespective of the hierarchy. Without sounding rhetorical, I do believe in the cosmic language of time, place, and circumstance. My choice of work, in brief, is greatly self-driven and learnt with raw curiosity and deliberated effort.
What inspired your passion for education, and what are the key areas of expertise that define your professional profile?
I view education as the sole means of attaining the change we wish to see in the world. It is the path to attaining independence in thought and action, aiming for the coveted wisdom, which for me cannot be limited to just experience without knowledge, just as much as simply attaining knowledge without experience.
I have been fortunate to keep working at constant knowledge upgradation while also experiencing the change that must be adapted to both advertently and inadvertently. This is to say that while my middle-class upbringing pushed me towards seeking greener pastures through education, the journey of seeking the exposures thus far on one’s own merit has been experiential. Working in different parts of the world contributed to my intercultural learning and developed a sense of respect and the ability to work with a diverse bunch of people and personalities.
My profile of work therefore represents this precise tractability with teaching, research, an advisory role, and, of course, that of student and faculty mentorship.
What are your current roles and responsibilities in your professional life?
Currently, I teach undergraduate and master’s students across the Law and Psychology programs at Amity University Dubai (AMUD). My subject areas are rooted in Sociology, Research, Education and Social Psychology. I head the Master of Education Program at AMUD. As a representative of the School of Humanities Arts and Applied Sciences (HAAS) in the University research committee, I am engaged with administrative verticals for overseeing Faculty research Grants and contribute to the policy development for the University. I’m also actively associated with the AMUD Centre for Teaching and Learning at AMUD as a faculty fellow.
Could you share details about your certifications, training, and publications that highlight your contributions to your field?
While I have had the opportunity of undertaking several certifications and trainings during my formative years, more recently I undertook a certification from Harvard, an online initiative by Harvard University. Here I was trained in a course called “Leaders of Learning. “Train the Trainers” is another course undertaken by me from our own (AMUD) Centre for Teacher Learning.
Besides these, there are periodic certifications taken on Research Methodology and Artificial Intelligence. Some of the previously undertaken training that has stayed with us has been Life skills and adolescents concerns by Dr. Premasunder Rajan, UNFPA, Resource Mobilization for development agencies by the Centre for Media Studies and Management skills for development agencies by Population Foundation of India.
Journal Publications:
· Malini Mittal Bishnoi, Swamynathan Ramakrishnan, Swathi Suraj & Ashish Dwivedi (2023) Impact of AI and COVID-19 on manufacturing systems: An Asia Pacific Perspective on the two Competing exigencies, Production & Manufacturing Research, 11:1, DOI: 10.1080/21693277.2023.2236684 Scopus Q1
· Hermayen, Amrah, Trique,Aamna, Bhardwaj Balodi Aradhana, Bishnoi,M.Malini and Gupta,Richa (2022) Family Support and Psychological Empowerment: Women Entrepreneurs in the UAE. Journal of Positive School Psychology.Vol.6,. http://journalppw.com
· Bishnoi, M. Malini & Wiseline, Antony (2021). Impact of Streaming Media on Formation of Schemas about Relationships in the Youth. Philosophical Readings, XIII.4 (2021), pp.2326-2337, 2326. info@philosophicalreadings.org DOI. 10.5281/zenodo.5617225
Conference Proceedings:
· Bishnoi, M. M., Ramakrishnan, S., Joghee, S., Kumar, A., & Thilagavathi, N. (2024). Intervention of AI and Social Engineering in the Education Sector of Ethiopia. International Conference on Cyber Resilience(ICCR2024). IEEE. (QS World Top Ranked University Conference)
· Bishnoi, M. Malini & Suraj, Swathi (2020). Challenges and Implications of Technological Transitions: The Case of Online Examinations. 2020 IEEE 15th International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems (ICIIS).2020 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ICIIS51140.2020.9342655. Available at https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=9342655
What practices do you follow to stay updated with the latest trends and advancements in the education field?
I feed my curiosity by exploring new concepts every day; research feeds into teaching and teaching into research. Classrooms today are great spaces of knowledge exchange rather than conventional teaching. Every master’s student brings in his or her personality with new exposures to class while every undergraduate student is keen to learn something novel. Novelty in teaching and research is only possible with constant knowledge and skill upgradation. For me, it is work in progress. Knowledge sharing, industry stakeholder interactions, project creation and development, mentoring fellow faculty and students, all tend to come together as consistent learning curves.
What advice would you offer to students as they prepare for their careers and navigate their professional journeys?
Students must believe in the journey as much as the outcome. I am not against quick redemption, but it runs the risk of short-term advantage. It is important to brew the coffee for it to taste good. One needs to acquire knowledge slowly and steadily for it to evolve into skills and competence. There is value in every little effort, whether it is reading fiction, learning to draw, taking short courses, or simply learning by doing small activities at home. Everything from small-scale to large-scale achievements begins as dreams and small, quiet efforts cumulate into a wholesome person.
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