Sharnic Djaker
Sharnic Djaker
Ph.D. Candidate in Applied Psychology with concentration in Economics at New York University
I am a doctoral candidate at NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. My research is at the intersection of psychology and economics. I study teacher perceptions of student ability and its effects on student achievement. Specifically, I am interested in understanding the variation in beliefs and behaviors of students and teachers in the context of improving learning levels in low- and middle-income countries. My research in this area takes the form of generating policy-relevant interventions that target individual behavior; often developed and evaluated using randomized field trials in South Asia and Latin America.
I am a doctoral candidate at NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. My research is at the intersection of psychology and economics. I study teacher perceptions of student ability and its effects on student achievement. Specifically, I am interested in understanding the variation in beliefs and behaviors of students and teachers in the context of improving learning levels in low- and middle-income countries. My research in this area takes the form of generating policy-relevant interventions that target individual behavior; often developed and evaluated using randomized field trials in South Asia and Latin America.
My current research portfolio focuses on two sets of outcomes: teachers' belief accuracy and learning losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the first, I primarily collaborate with my advisor Dr. Alejandro Ganimian on studies documenting teachers' knowledge of student ability and evaluating interventions that improve teacher judgment accuracy. Second, I collaborate with Dr. Noam Angrist and Dr. Shwetlena Sabarwal in various studies documenting pandemic-induced learning losses and experimentally examining channels that encourage specific behaviors from teachers and students to recover these losses.
My current research portfolio focuses on two sets of outcomes: teachers' belief accuracy and learning losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the first, I primarily collaborate with my advisor Dr. Alejandro Ganimian on studies documenting teachers' knowledge of student ability and evaluating interventions that improve teacher judgment accuracy. Second, I collaborate with Dr. Noam Angrist and Dr. Shwetlena Sabarwal in various studies documenting pandemic-induced learning losses and experimentally examining channels that encourage specific behaviors from teachers and students to recover these losses.
When I remove my researcher glasses, I am an avid sports fan. I watch an unfathomable amount of tennis and cricket games, and F1 races. I play recreational volleyball and badminton. I used to be a competitive swimmer in India representing the state of Tamilnadu, where I grew up.
When I remove my researcher glasses, I am an avid sports fan. I watch an unfathomable amount of tennis and cricket games, and F1 races. I play recreational volleyball and badminton. I used to be a competitive swimmer in India representing the state of Tamilnadu, where I grew up.
EDUCATION
EDUCATION
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
Doctoral candidate in Applied Psychology
2019-2024 (expected)
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Master of Arts in Education and International Development
2016-2017
SHIV NADAR UNIVERSITY
Bachelor of Science (Research) in Economics
2012-2016
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT
January 2020 - Present
GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
September 2019 - Present
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
July 2017 - October 2020
INTERN | RESEARCH CONSULTANT
May 2016 - April 2017