Nicole DeKay is a researcher and PhD candidate working with the company Moving Beyond in the diversity, inclusion, and equity space, and her research and work are centered around workplace experiences. In this episode, Nicole discusses psychometrics and how her personal experiences inspired her research. She provides an overview of the book The Body Keeps the Score, which is the basis of her dissertation, describes what a trigger meter is, and details how her work at Moving Beyond and Humanalysts can help organizations better serve their employees.

Nicole’s research in psychometrics

Psychometrics, the focus of Nicole’s research, is the measurement of human emotion in the workplace. With her research, she strives to create assessment tools focusedon negative workplace experiences, especially those of diverse populations. Nicole discusses how her passion stems from a work situation where shewas getting great opportunities but not actual career growth. Nicole noticed this was not happening with her male colleagues and wondered if this was a systemic issue.

The Body Keeps the Score and workplace trauma

Nicole provides an overview of The Body Keeps the Score, the book her PhD dissertation is based on. The book  is about the body holding on to trauma in ways that people don’t realize — that stress and trauma can cause  physiological responses and drive behavior. To release trauma, Nicole says acknowledging, naming, and accepting it is a big component. She focuses on trauma in the workplace and discusses little “t”traumas, such as consistent  discrimination or a boss who bullies you, that can result in PTSD-type reactions.

Nicole’s medical journey and her current role

Nicole talks about how her medical issues, chronic pain related to breathing issues, and need for health insurance complicated her work life. She felt trapped and became complacent in her job while she was working through her healing process. This inability to leave a job due to insurance needs is also a systemic issue many  women experienced. Through her work, Nicole focuses on creating assessments to measure what is going on inside organizations and what they can do to ensure that employees can bring their full selves to work. She also discusses Humanalysts, another company that is tied to the work she is doing at Moving Beyond and whose aim is to make data and information about employee experience traditionally housed in HR departments accessible to people.

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