Psychology and Gender

Sadhana Natu did BA (psychology) from Fergusson College, Pune; MA (clinical psychology) from the Department of Psychology of the then Pune University; and BEd from Tilak College of Education, Pune. She secured positions in the merit list of the university during all these courses. Thereafter, she cleared her NET-JRF and obtained a doctorate from Pune University. Her thesis was titled 'A Psycho-social Enquiry into the Gender Roles and Other Related Factors of Young Males with Special Reference to Maternal Employment'. She works across multiple sectors and disciplines. She has a long-standing engagement and work in academics, NGOs, community-based organizations, corporate sector and psychotherapy. She has worked on boards of studies of psychology and women's studies in Savitribai Phule Pune University as well as autonomous colleges. She was awarded the 'Innovative Teaching Award' of Savitribai Phule Pune University for facilitative, participatory teaching which allows students to engage critically with curricula. She writes in English and Marathi, and her translation of Social Psychology in Marathi, where she was the first author, won the Best Book Award of Marathi Manas Shastra Parishad. She facilitates a peer support and speak-out group, DISHA, in her institution which has served as a model for institutions across the university. She believes that there is a cogent, meaningful relationship between her social action, feminism, gynagogy, research and the students' world and that the classroom is a microcosm of the outside world and social reality. She has written for journals, chapters in books and books as well as columns in newspapers for dissemination of ideas. She has participated in several national and international conferences and led many symposia and conducted pre-conference workshops, especially on gender and psychology, mixed methods, gender analysis in psychological research and critical psychology. She has led and completed several independent research projects and is an Advisor on Research Committees of NGOs as well as academic outfits. She also works as an external expert in Anti-Sexual Harassment Committees across sectors.