As Assistant Dean of Business Programs, Sandhya spearheads efforts aimed at strengthening all aspects of the WPI Business School Student life cycle including strategic recruitment, retention, program development, partnerships, student engagement and career development. Sandhya leads the WBS Programs Team that advises students on curricular selection and academic progression. The Programs team develops long-term advising relationships with students and counsel’s learners on academic, administrative, professional, and disciplinary issues. Furthermore, the Programs team provides instructional support for all WBS faculty, including classroom scheduling and active participation on WBS curriculum committees.

A future focused and passionate educational advocate, Sandhya excels in opportunity recognition, proactive program development and strategic engagements to drive scalable and sustainable growth. Prior to joining WPI, Sandhya served in various capacities at The University of Massachusetts Lowell leading key strategic initiatives that span development of in integrated co-op program, strengthening graduate and international recruitment efforts and most recently as Assistant Dean of Academic and Corporate Program Development. Sandhya led new academic program development efforts to meet emerging industry needs across Business, Humanities and STEM disciplines. Sandhya has also served as professor and chairperson of a department specializing in business and corporate studies for several years at M.O.P. Vaishnav College, India.

Sandhya’s research interests include entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial leadership, student entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial universities, and entrepreneurial team performance. She has published in the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal and Frontiers of Entrepreneurship. Sandhya has presented at several national regional and national conferences, received the best paper award for entrepreneurship in 2015 and outstanding reviewer award in 2017 at the Eastern Academy of Management Annual Conferences. She currently serves on the editorial board of the South Asian Journal of Business Studies and The AMC Indian Journal of Entrepreneurship.

A Certified Entrepreneurial Mindset Practitioner®, Sandhya uniquely integrates her years of entrepreneurial leadership experience and research expertise to the business classroom. Working across a variety of settings both in the US and India, she has taught a range of topics. Currently, she specializes in teaching courses on leading entrepreneurial teams, new venture creation, business plan development, competitor research and research methods.

EDUCATION: 

PhD, Manning School of Business, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 2020

MBA, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 2005

Master of Philosophy, University of Madras, 1996

Master of Commerce, University of Madras, 1995

Bachelor of Commerce, University of Madras, 1993

SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS:

1. Balasubramanian, S, Wales, J. W, White, J.V., Gupta, V. K.,(2020) "Entrepreneurial Orientation". In obo in Management. https://doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780199846740-0193
2. Balasubramanian, S, Yang, Y, Tello, S. (2020). Does University entrepreneurial orientation matter? Evidence from university performance. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. 2020;1-22. https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1341
3. Albashrawi, M. A., Turner, L., & Balasubramanian, S. (2020). Adoption of mobile ERP in educational environment: computer self-efficacy and system security. International Journal of Enterprise Information Systems (IJEIS), 16(4), 184-200.
4. Balasubramanian, S., & Yang, Y (2019). Team Congruence on Entrepreneurial Orientation: Can Alignment Enhance Team Performance? (Interactive Paper). Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, Vol (39)
5. Balasubramanian, S., & Yang, Y (2015). Impact of Entrepreneurial Orientation on University Performance (SUMMARY). Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 35(13), 9.
6. Balasubramanian, S., [Review of Book, The Concept of Entrepreneurial Orientation: Foundations and Trends® in Entrepreneurship (2015), Volume 11, No. 2, 55–137 by Vishal Gupta and Alka Gupta], Organization Management Journal, 12(4), 249-250, Dec. 2015.