Debarshi Roy
I am passionate about school education, which has been my area of work as a consultant and a researcher for the past 17 years. Over these years I have studied the intricacies and complexities of human behaviour within the domains of schools. My experiences among children have encouraged me to develop systems to create empathetic, liberal and psychologically safe schools. I dream to help in creating schools where children are free to think, question norms and reach confidently for the sky.
Biography
I have a PhD in organizational behaviour and a masters degree in education management. As a researcher my interests lie in quantitative modeling of human behaviour, behavioural game theory and behavioural economics. I attempt to apply my areas of research interests to my passion for creating empathetic school systems; in the process I have developed psychometric tools to measure psychological safety, empathetic leadership and empathetic culture in Indian schools. My papers and articles on school education have been published by the London School of Economics, University of Oxford, University of California at Berkeley ( accepted, in-editing), Indian Institutes of Management (Lucknow and Shillong), Xavier’s Labour Relations Institute (XLRI, Jamshedpur) and Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (Pune) among others. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of arts and I dream to contribute effectively to the creation of egalitarian, empathetic and liberal schools where children are free to think, question norms and reach confidently for the sky.Education
-
PhD, University of North Bengal, Siliguri, 2018
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
-
Quantitative research, Complex adaptive behavioural systems, Behavioural game theory, Behavioural economics, Empathy and psychological safety in schools
Personal Interests
-
Digital art and graphic design.
Websites
Books
Articles
Development and Validation of an Empirical Instrument to assess Empathy Driven Organizational Justice systems in schools
Published: May 07, 2022 by Berkeley Review of Education
Authors: Debarshi Roy
Subjects:
Education, Work & Organizational Psychology
School students are susceptible to unfair and unjust experiences due to the hierarchical and mechanistic nature of school organizations. In order to create nurturing school climates, it is necessary for schools to encourage just and fair organizational justice systems. This study attempted to develop and validate a scale which measured empathic organizational justice.
Entrepreneurship driven migratory behaviour among the tea estate workers in West Bengal: An exploratory study
Published: Apr 21, 2022 by VIkalpa, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Authors: Debarshi Roy
Subjects:
Work & Organizational Psychology
The present study explores the various dimensions of migratory entrepreneurship behaviour among the tea estate workers of Bengal through a multi-dimensional approach which includes a discussion on the historical socio-economic perspective, a field study on perceptions of migratory entrepreneurship among the garden community followed by a subsequent analysis of the results.
Commodified Test Scores and the Role of Empathy in India’s School Education
Published: Dec 13, 2021 by South Asia @ LSE’ blog. London School of Economics, South Asia Centre
Authors: Debarshi Roy
Subjects:
Education
This article examines the high school education system in India which overemphasizes the importance of scores in standardized examinations. The system is unforgiving and intolerant towards those who do not perform to exacting standards. The article suggests ways to make the system more inclusive, empathic and forgiving.
Encouraging an Intolerance to Failure: Psychological Safety in Indian School Systems
Published: Nov 13, 2021 by Think Pieces Series No. 25. Education.SouthAsia, University of Oxford.
Authors: Debarshi Roy
Subjects:
Education, Cognitive Psychology
Indian schools overwhelmingly prioritize scores in standardized examinations. This practice encourages unforgiving and unempathetic systems which stimulate cut throat competition leading to heightened levels of performance anxiety and stress in school children. This study involves a set of informal interviews that were conducted over several years with parents and children to study their perspectives on test scores, anxiety and fear.
The role of 'swarm intelligence' in school dropouts among tribal students in the tea estates of West Bengal, India
Published: Sep 01, 2021 by Think Pieces Series No. 22. Education.SouthAsia, University of Oxford.
Authors: Debarshi Roy
Subjects:
Education, Area Studies, Social Psychology
The tea estates of West Bengal employ tribal workers who have been working there for generations since the British colonialists forced them to migrate from their native lands and work in the tea plantations as bonded labour. A field study was conducted by the author wherein it was revealed that the workers think as a collective and swarm intelligence is at play in their decisions on education.
Development and validation of an empirical model based instrument to measure empathy driven organizational cultures in Indian schools.
Published: Aug 11, 2020 by Management and Labour Studies (XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources)
Authors: Debarshi Roy
Subjects:
Education, Work & Organizational Psychology
The paper presents an instrument which has been developed to measure empathy driven organizational culture in Indian schools.
Development and validation of an empirical model to study the mediating role of empathic school leadership in the motivation of high school students in India
Published: Jun 01, 2020 by Metamorphosis - A Journal of Management Research- IIM Lucknow
Authors: Debarshi Roy
Subjects:
Education, Work & Organizational Psychology
The paper presents an empirical model to establish empathetic leadership as a mediator of student motivation. Further the paper presents an instrument to measure levels of empathetic school leadership in Indian schools.
Do Anchors Create Inefficient Systems? Motivating Optimal Outcomes through Strategic Supervision and Control—A Behavioural Game Theory Experiment
Published: Apr 20, 2020 by Journal of management science. IIM shillong
Authors: Debarshi Roy
Subjects:
Education, Work & Organizational Psychology
This paper reports the findings of a behavioural game theory experiment conducted to study the strategic behaviour associated with performance targets and supervision among high school students
Development and Validation of a Scale for Psychological Safety in School Among High School Students in India.
Published: Sep 12, 2019 by Management and Labour Studies (XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources)
Authors: Debarshi Roy
Subjects:
Education, Area Studies
This paper presents a psychometric tool for assessing psychological safety among school students in India.
AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF TEACHERS ON THE MOTIVATION OF SCHOOL STUDENTS
Published: Jun 10, 2019 by Opus , Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development Pune
Authors: Debarshi Roy
Subjects:
Education, Work & Organizational Psychology
The paper reports the findings of an empirical study which explored the influence of teachers on the motivation of school students.
Photos
Videos
Published: Jul 24, 2021
This was a recorded presentation at the conference on "Education in Crisis: Re-thinking Education in (Post)-Pandemic South Asia" hosted by the Education South Asia initiative at South Asian Studies Programme, Oxford School of Global and Area Studies -OSGA (University of Oxford).