Loss and Renewal

Career Shift

Maya Shankar's career transition from music to cognitive science and public policy is a testament to resilience and adaptability. After an injury ended her dreams of becoming a concert violinist, she pursued a PhD in cognitive science at Oxford. A pivotal moment came when she learned about a policy reform that automatically enrolled 12.4 million students in the school lunch program, sparking her interest in using behavioral science to influence public policy 1.

It was just like a light bulb went off in my head and I thought, okay, this is what I need to be doing with my life.

--- Maya Shankar

Maya's determination led her to reach out to Thomas Khalil, an advisor to the Obama administration, using her mother's "Juilliard method" of fearlessly pursuing opportunities 1.

   

Policy Innovations

Maya Shankar's work in public policy showcases the power of behavioral insights to drive meaningful change. She joined the White House to apply social science research to policy challenges, such as simplifying the school lunch verification process and translating communications into multiple languages 2. These efforts highlight the gap between rational expectations and actual human behavior, a divide her work aims to bridge.

Programs like these really are, no pun intended, a no brainer, that this is really something that we should be doing.

--- Shankar Vedantam

Additionally, her team addressed the "summer melt" phenomenon by sending text reminders to students, resulting in a 9% increase in college enrollment rates 3.