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Fajri Shadiq, Behaviour Change MSc
Who did you find inspiring at UCL and why?
I found almost all of my lecturers at the Centre for Behaviour Change (CBC) at UCL inspiring, all in their own way. However, one that stays in my memory is of course Danielle D'Lima, as she worked with me on my final research project/dissertation. Danielle always gave me the impression that her students' learning was one of the most important things for her. She was also extremely meticulous, very self-reflective and always wanted to improve the way she does things; all to ensure the best learning experience for the students. I also can't forget how she helped me in my efforts in applying for PhD projects and providing reference letters, even long after I graduated. Again, this reflected her high and genuine commitment to ensure her students experience the best learning they could get.
Aside from Danielle, I also can't forget how inspiring Susan Michie and Robert West were. I remember how Susan emphasised the importance of making science impactful to policy makers, at a time where the scientific community was just too focused on publishing articles to boost the popularity of certain theories. I got the impression that she was the type of person to 'make things work'; I remember how she said to me that in order to make real, actual impact, you need be the person to keep banging on the door of these high-end policy makers and push to make change.
What is your fondest memory of your time here?
To be honest, it's hard to choose! The MSc programme was so enjoyable that if given the opportunity to go back in time and redo the whole course again, I would do it in a heartbeat. If I were to pick one specific instance though, it was doing the final assignment for the 'Theories and Models for Behaviour Change' module. That was my first academic writing endeavour after four year break and I remember how hard it was to get back to doing academic writing after such a long time. I also remember how creative the assignment was as it didn't impose one strict way of doing the essay; there were so many ways of approaching the essay and it was so much fun. I ended up enjoying the whole process, got a distinction for it and, to this day I still see it as one of my best academic achievements.
Tell us a bit about the work you're doing now...
Given my personal situation after graduation and how difficult the current job market is, I decided to go back to my previous company, with the added flexibility of doing behaviour change work. I currently work as a Senior Impact Associate at a new and innovative non-profit organisation back in my home country (Indonesia), where I am responsible to create a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) system to help the organisation leverage insights and data to measure their impact. However, this time round, I have been given the flexibility of doing behaviour change work. I am eager to apply behavior change strategies to address various issues, such as encouraging better waste segregation within the communities the organisation collaborates with, eliminating the social stigma associated with working in waste banks, enabling stakeholders to submit impact data from the ground, and exploring other potential initiatives that leverage behavior change.
How did your UCL degree help you get to where you are now?
My UCL degree definitely helped me to add further depth to the value that I can bring to my workplace: qualitative research skills (which I lacked before), deeper understanding of intervention evaluation and theories of change, and of course a solid understanding of human behaviour and its drivers. The latter point especially changed how I approach things in my work: I often find myself framing a problem as a behavioural problem, and use the COM-B framework (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation - Behaviour) which I learned during the MSc, to structure the problem in my head. This helped me greatly in getting new insights—for instance, in thinking of ways to get people in the organisation to use the impact dashboard that I created in their day-to-day activities. I thought to myself: is this a motivation issue, a capability issue or an opportunity issue? Even thinking about it in this way helped me greatly in producing new insights to how I see the problem and coming up with new solutions.
What have been your career highlights?
So far, getting into UCL was one of my career highlights, because I actually failed a lot of times in getting a scholarship to fund my studies abroad. I remember in 2020 I had to withdraw my Letter of Acceptance to UCL, because I failed to get the scholarship that I wanted. I eventually re-applied to UCL in 2023, and in September 2023 I finally was able to commence my studies.
What would be your advice for current students?
Enjoy your MSc life. Be curious and ask a lot of questions! I know it's quite challenging to manage all the coursework but you'll be able to do so eventually—don't forget to have fun and enjoy the whole process, because before you know it, you'll find yourself already at the end of the course. Also, don't forget to enjoy and explore everything London has to offer—it's definitely a worthwhile experience!