A Guide to Career Paths in Behavioral Science
When people ask me how I ended up working as a behavioral scientist in a tech company, I always say it was pure luck: when I was doing my Masters in Behavioral Science, not too many people knew about the subject and even fewer were offering jobs in this specialization. In my case, my company just happened to be looking for a behavioral scientist, and I was in the right place at the right time.
But things have changed over the last few years. With more and more people actively taking up behavioral science, there’s much more demand from both the public and private sectors, and graduates now have a number of different career paths to choose from.
The behavioral scientist in me is nudging me to add that having a multitude of options could also mean a paradox of choice for students. Still, it’s reassuring to know that this subject, which literally burst on the scene only a few years ago, has gained acceptance around the world, and students brave enough to study it now have a career to look forward to.
References
- https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/Penn-Behavior-Change-for-Good-strategies-boost-vaccination-rates
- https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/memorandum-on-restoring-trust-in-government-through-scientific-integrity-and-evidence-based-policymaking/
- https://twitter.com/faisal_naru/status/1027162896340578304
- https://www.un.org/en/content/behaviouralscience/assets/pdf/UN%20Secretary-General’s%20Guidance%20on%20Behavioural%20Science.pdf
- https://irrationallabs.com/case-studies/tiktok-how-behavioral-science-reduced-the-spread-of-misinformation/
About the Author
Preeti Kotamarthi
Preeti Kotamarthi has built and led Behavioral Science teams at two of the largest tech companies in Southeast Asia and India. She established the Behavioral Science practice at Grab, helping product and design teams understand customer behavior to create better user experiences. Currently, she heads Behavioral Science and User Research at Swiggy, where she continues to blend data, design, and human insights—drawing inspiration from spending a lot of time with Indian consumers. With a Masters in Behavioral Science from the London School of Economics and an MBA in Marketing from FMS Delhi, Preeti brings over 12 years of experience in consumer products, from co-founding a rural startup in India to shaping behavioral design in tech. Her passion lies in making behavioral science a core part of the product development process. When she’s not uncovering human insights at work, she’s likely busy applying behavioral lessons on her two-year-old.
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