Spotlight On: Gangaram Singh

February 20, 2020 by CIRHR Communications

Graduated: 1998 
Thesis: Work after early retirement 
Research areas: diversity and inclusion, issues of an aging workforce, international employment relations, innovations of human resource management, collective bargaining 
Now: Executive Vice President and Provost, National University, San Diego, U.S. 

Dr. Gangaram Singh says that it was his own experience that sparked his interest in workplace diversity and inclusion:  

I grew up in a country (Guyana) with a wicked division along racial lines.  We can do better only if we see each individual as a person with a bagful of unique qualities and we create an ecosystem for each individual to thrive. 

Singh’s work has been published in over 70 academic and practitioner journals, including the Journal of Management, Human Resource Management Review, and the Journal of Management Inquiry. He has presented at the Academy of Management, the Industrial Relations Research Association, and the Canadian Industrial Relations Association.   

Selected publications: 

Diversity and inclusion 

  • Shore, L. M., Randel, A. E., Chung, B. G., Dean, M. A., Holcombe Ehrhart, K., & Singh, G. (2011). Inclusion and Diversity in Work Groups: A Review and Model for Future Research. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1262–1289. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206310385943   
  • Shore, L. M., Chung-Herrera, B. G., Dean, M. A., Ehrhart, K. H., Jung, D. I., Randel, A. E., & Singh, G. (2009). Diversity in organizations: Where are we now and where are we going? Human Resource Management Review, 19(2), 117-133. doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2008.10.004 

International employment relations 

  • Singh, A., Singh, G., & Beatty, J. R. (2016). Adoption and correlates of western concepts of high performance work system in the IT industry in india. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 24(4), 550-572. doi:http://dx.doi.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.1108/IJOA-01-2015-0837  
  • Singh, G., Shore, L., Singh, G., & Shore, L. (2010). Usage of eight forms of equity-based compensation in the san diego life sciences industry. Compensation & Benefits Review, 42(3), 162-171. doi:10.1177/0886368710368923 
  • Singh, G. (2001). Skills requirements of the biotechnology industry: Moving from research and development to commercialization. International Journal of Biotechnology, 3(3), 244-256. Retrieved from http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-co... 

Innovations of human resource management 

Collective bargaining 

  • Singh, G. (2001). National culture and union density. Journal of Industrial Relations, 43(3), 330-339. doi:10.1111/1472-9296.00021  

In an interview with Emerald Publishing, regarding his research examining the relevance and limitations of using a top journal approach as a proxy for an article's value or contribution, Singh notes the impact of his background in Industrial Relations: 

My PhD is in Industrial Relations (IR) from the University of Toronto. Like many IR scholars, I ended up in a business school, so management became my home discipline. This traditional route meant I was going to be judged by my publications in management journals, but deep down I was trained to publish in excellent quality IR journals – the iconic journals in IR (such as ILR Review) were relegated to second-class status. I often wondered if going down that path was the right choice. 

Singh also attributes his commitment to serving the underserved to his education at the CIRHR, writing "My rigorous education allows me to adjust to very different environments to implement practical solutions to challenging issues. With a rigid sense of social justice, acquired in industrial relations, I am committed to a campaign of equality and equity."

Singh’s work on issues of aging workforces has included collaborations with CIRHR Professor Anil Verma:  

  • Singh, G.; Verma, A. (2003). Work history and later-life labor force participation: Evidence from large telecommunications firm. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 56(4), 699-715. 

Reflecting on favourite memories at the Centre, Singh highlights the professors’ commitment to learning: 

I recall serving as an RA for Doug Hyatt.  After a whole summer of figuring out how to write a SAS program to do a logistic regression, I mustered the courage to ask Doug why did he tolerate me for a whole summer when he could have done the work in 10 minutes. His reply was “you have to learn how to do it.” It is the essence of care and personalization that will help us all to create a place for everyone and promote social justice. 

Since leaving the CIRHR, Singh has taught human resources management at Case Western University and served as professor, department chair, associate dean, and interim dean with San Diego State University’s (SDSU) College of Business Administration. He also served on the City of San Diego’s Citizens Review and Economic Competitiveness Commission. 

Singh is now Executive Vice President and Provost at the National University in San Diego, where he serves as chief academic officer to the president, strengthening academic infrastructure for the next generation of adult learners. On his transition into academic leadership, Singh writes:  

After successfully navigated the halls of professorship, I embraced the challenges of academic leadership with the goal to implement his educational foundations to fundamentally change the way we approach and administer higher education. I served as the chair of a department, as associate dean of a business school, and interim dean of a business school, then moved on to associate provost, interim provost and currently serves as the EVP & Provost. I am in the midst of activities to rename National University to Sanford National University. With a $350M gift from Philanthropist T. Denny Sanford, Sanford National University is committed to serving adult learners.  

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