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Dr. Neeta Kantamneni is currently accepting students for the 2025-2026 Academic Year.

Philosophy Statement:

The context in which career and vocational decisions are made is critical in understanding the process of those decisions. My professional interests are a fusion of multicultural and vocational psychology and my program of research is committed to examining how contextual influences are related to vocational development with an emphasis on examining the career development process for individuals from marginalized and under-represented groups. As a scientist-practitioner, I am devoted to conducting research that has a direct impact on providing culturally sensitive career counseling to individuals from diverse and marginalized backgrounds. My research program works towards enhancing the lives of all individuals with a specific focus on respecting diversity across people, perspectives, and ideas. Under the broad classification of contextual influences on vocational development, I have developed a program of research that has four primary lines of inquiry: (a) examining the influence of cultural factors on vocational development and career choice for racial/ethnic minorities, (b) examining gender influences on career development, (c) examining career meaning-making for individuals from marginalized backgrounds, and (d) career and academic intervention research. Within this research agenda, I am deeply committed to training students to conduct research that is focused on multicultural, vocational psychology with an emphasis in social justice and find mentoring students in research the most rewarding aspect of my work. By understanding how context influences vocational identity and the meaning constructed through work, Counseling Psychologists have the unique opportunity to provide holistic career interventions that fully integrate the various aspects of one’s identity into the counseling process. This comprehensive focus has the potential to enhance the career and economic lives of people from marginalized backgrounds who may not have equal access and opportunity to achieve academic and vocational success.

Courses Taught

• EDPS 868 – Gender and Counseling Psychology
• EDPS 975 – Occupations and Vocational Psychology
• EDPS 995 – Doctoral Seminar
• EDPS 997B - Field Placement in Counseling