Dr. Vinika Devasar Rao

Executive Director INSEAD Emerging Markets Institute

Dr. Vinika Devasar Rao is the Executive Director of the INSEAD Emerging Markets Institute, a leading think tank and center of research on business management, economic and social development on growth economies. She is also soon taking on the roles of Director of the INSEAD Gender Initiative and the Hoffman Global Institute for Business and Society, Asia. Vinika completed her doctorate from the Singapore Management University in the area of gender diversity in corporate leadership, specifically the impact of male supervisorial support on the self-regulating focus of mid-career female managers. Her research interests are leadership diversity, millennials & inter-generational influences on the workplace, and emerging markets strategy. She is also passionate about supporting women managers to make fulfilling work-life decisions. She is frequently invited to speak on these areas and has been quoted / published articles in leading business publications including Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Economist, Business Times, South China Morning Post and INSEAD Knowledge. After completing her MBA from IIM, Bangalore, Vinika started her career with a multinational bank in India, went on to become General Manager of an American Asian JV in the field of industrial chemicals and later became the Managing Director of an Indonesian conglomerate. She co-founded a boutique advisory firm in Singapore before making a serendipitous transition to education. As Associate Professor at the SP Jain Center of Management, Singapore, Vinika taught business strategy to MBAs and EMBAs and conducted specialized programs for various corporate clients. She has also taught at the Melbourne Institute of Technology, Deakin University, Curtin University, Lembaga Pengembangan Management Indonesia and the International Golden Institute of Management, Jakarta, as well as Murdoch University and Kaplan, Singapore. She has conducted numerous workshops and seminars for specific companies as well as open enrollment events.

Vinika is a founding member of ‘INSEAD Cares’, which works to improve the educational environment of vulnerable children.