Arroyo Research Services is pleased to welcome Namrata Mahajan, Ph.D, to our team as a Senior Associate. Dr. Mahajan brings strong experience and interest in culture, education, and group behaviors, and her work includes qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research studies that focus on the experiences of minorities in education and group settings. When we brought Dr. Mahajan on board, we asked why she considered the evaluation of Title V grants to Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) to be a key strength of her candidacy. She reported that

“evaluating Title V grants fits perfectly with my interests because these funds help minority students get access to resources they may not otherwise have. While language barriers, family background, or cultural norms sometimes make working with minority populations more complicated, helping students who may not otherwise have these opportunities is a great reward.” She adds, “I love working with faculty and staff members who feel equally passionate about helping students achieve their educational goals.” Asked what she learned through this work, she replied, “the importance of being culturally relevant, appropriate, and sensitive. Working with students, parents, and teachers of different backgrounds often means learning about their cultural norms and values before moving forward with a study. An evaluation plan, and how it’s carried out, benefits enormously when the researcher understands participants’ culture and background.” Dr. Mahajan is clearly in tune with our approach to evaluation: using the tools of social science to help educators succeed with students.

Prior to joining Arroyo, Dr. Mahajan was a Project Manager for Cobblestone Applied Research and Evaluation, where managed several large randomized control trial and response to intervention evaluation studies examining the efficacy of textbooks and curricula under No Child Left Behind (content areas include mathematics, biology, literature, etc.). She also managed evaluations of Title V grants provided by the U.S. Department of Education to Hispanic Serving Institutions to evaluate STEM programs. Mahajan was external evaluator for the Kids Come First Community Clinic, a First Five LA funded initiative, and has conducted research and evaluation for universities, community organizations, and school systems on health services, immigration, and cognition. Mahajan holds a B.A. in Psychology and Social Behavior from U.C. Irvine, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology from the Claremont Graduate University.