Good day, Dr. Vaishali Jain. I'm Arjun. I've had a look through your background and your professional record. I'm interested in hearing more about your work and how you see yourself fitting in here with our faculty. Ready to start?

Hi, Hi, Arjun, a very good morning. My name is doctor Vaishali Jain and I'm looking forward to this interview from you. Uh, going about my background, I come from a beautiful city of lakes Udaipur in Rajasthan. I'm born and brought up in Udaipur, only completed my entire education from there, uh, I started my academic journey.

Please start by introducing your

As a faculty in year 2009, my first job was.

Then from Jaipur, I moved on to Delhi NCR, then I moved on to Pune and right now I'm working as an associate professor in Finance with Marwari University, Rajkot.

I total I have a.

Feel free to complete your thought, Professor.

Thank you, Arjun. I have a total experience of 15 years and eight months as of today. And over these 15 years, I have published around 8 papers in Scopus and in total 26 papers I have published. I have taught various subjects in the domain, for example, investment analysis and portfolio management, financial derivatives, financial services, financial institutions and markets behavioral.

Research methodology, financial management to name a few. Though I'm not an expert on general management subjects but in the early career I have also taught the general management subjects like principles of management and organizational behavior and strategic management as well. My expertise in research lies in time series, econometric analysis, modeling of.

Prices and recently I have also started working in the domain of behavioral finance.

I have 5 scholars under me who out of those four are working in the domain of behavioral finance while one is working in the IPO market and the pricing efficiency in the IPO market.

Thank you, Professor, for elaborating on your experience and research expertise. It’s clear you have a substantial background both academically and in mentorship, which is integral to this position. Let’s delve into assessing some of the key areas that align with the requirements for this role. Could you explain your approach to financial analytics, particularly focusing on how you've conducted or utilized analytical methods in your research or teaching?

So financial analytics talks about applying analytics into financial data. So when I'm talking about modeling of prices, when I'm when I'm talking about financial modeling, when I'm talking about big data analytics, I'm talking about integrating analytics into finance, especially when I'm talking about decision making. So for example, there is a lot of data that we require for making a certain decision, right? This data how we can.

Effectively use it. How we can convert this into meaningful information is where analytics lies. So when I'm doing economic analysis, to some extent I'm using analytics in my research.

Sure.

Please go ahead, Professor.

OK, so Arjun, I started my research journey with my PhD and in the PhD only I applied econometric analysis. In my PhD I have studied the lead-lag relationship between spot futures and options market wherein I used the analysis.

Using stationarity test, using giant Cisco integration test using vector error correction model and grandeur causality.

These are all techniques of econometric analysis and they form a part of financial analytics. Further to that, my papers after that like I wrote a paper in the International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management, which is titled Our Agricultural Commodities Efficient or not. There I had used the ARDL model. ARDL model stands for Autoregressive Distributed lag model which talks about how. The markets for these non-agricultural based.

And agricultural based commodities is efficient or not?

I've also studied the relationship between currency derivatives using the same econometric analysis.

OK, so Arjun, what I usually do is when I'm starting my class, so in the first class we usually discuss the course content and how we'll be go ahead. What are the resources we are going to use? What are the assessments that I'll be conducting in my class during the course from the second class onwards, I usually start with.

Thank you, Professor. Your depth of application in econometric techniques such as stationarity tests, ARDL models, and vector error correction models shows a strong grasp of financial analytics in research contexts. This aligns well with the focus areas for this role. Let’s move to core financial management. Can you describe your approach to teaching financial management concepts, particularly how you ensure your students grasp foundational principles while connecting them to real-world applications?

The content so the first class. I usually have a habit of integrating gamification.

In my teaching pedagogy, So what I do is the first class that I start with, I use a ball, a soft ball in the class and the students are required to ask questions.

Please remember my students are only required to ask questions on the concepts that they know or they are familiar with in the domain. So what they need to do is they take the ball. I throw the ball to a student, the student asks a question and throw it to another student. The person who catches the ball has to ask another question. So this way in the very first class I get an idea about what are the concepts the students are familiar with. Once I get these concepts where the students are familiar.

I start with giving them a gist of all these concepts in the next class and then I start with the gaps that I could identify. Once I have covered these gaps, I.

In intermittently conduct activities, for example, I'll conduct quizzes, I'll conduct activities, very basic school activities like matching the column. So I'll give them a concept and I'll ask them to name the concept what I'm talking about. Similarly, I ask students to solve crossword puzzles that I create for using financial concepts. So I ensure that my students are aware about the most basic and most important concepts.

Once the students have built up on those content, on those concepts, then I start connecting those concepts, taking real life examples from the market. For example, when I'm teaching financial markets, when I'm teaching, let's say security analysis and portfolio management, and there is a concept called technical analysis. So once students have understood the basic terms, then I move on to technical analysis. I explain Dow theory and the three phases of the Dow.

I take live example. I use charts. I use websites like investing.com. I use websites like tradingview.com to show them those live charts and identify the trends that are there in the explained in the Dow Theory.

Thank you, Professor. Your structured approach, combining foundational concept reinforcement with gamification and real-world application, demonstrates an effective teaching pedagogy—especially for a subject as vast and analytical as financial management. Live examples using tools like Investing.com and TradingView further illustrate your commitment to connecting theory with practice. Next, I’d like to hear about your methods for evaluating students and conducting examinations. How do you ensure fairness and gauge a student’s understanding of finance concepts comprehensively?

So when it comes to examination, I again have a habit when I am teaching a particular topic, I try to give them all forms of questions and discuss them in the class that what all questions could come from a particular topic and how these topics can be tweaked. What are they expected to write. So a student while going through a question he clearly.

Hands that what is my expectation of writing for and the student also needs to be explained. I mean the student needs to understand how much content is he required to write for a tomark question, how much content he is required to write for a format question and how much content he is required to write for A8 mark or for a 16 mark question. That way he knows clearly where to emphasize and where not to emphasize at times it at times it happens that the student.

Ends up writing so much into the introduction that he forgets writing the core question. So I try and educate students on that and I clearly tell them that if it is A8 mark question on this particular thing, these marks are I give a clear bifurcation of marks that if you write this much, you'll get this marks. If you write this much, you'll get this mark. If you write this much, then you give mark. So preparing a properly graded answer key is I feel where I can ensure.

For fairness in my assessment and the examinations.

I hope I have understood your question right and answered.

OK, so Arjun, when it comes to research, what I feel is research is driven by internal motivation. First of all, the student, I talk to student and try to understand where his interest lies. So when you talk about behavioral finance, let's suppose even in behavioral finance there are different domains. So there might be a student wanting to work on a particular theory like prospect theory or the student wants to work on the integration of two Tier 2 concepts like.

Yes, Professor, your answer is precise and insightful. Your method of setting clear expectations for students, discussing potential questions, and emphasizing graded answer keys demonstrates a thorough and equitable approach to evaluations. It ensures students not only understand finance concepts but are also well-prepared to articulate their understanding effectively during assessments. Next, let’s discuss guiding student projects and research activities. Can you detail your approach to mentoring research projects, especially in areas like behavioral finance or IPO market dynamics? How do you ensure students deliver quality research outcomes?

How prospect theory deals with limits to arbitrage and how is it visible in the market? So first, the key to guiding the student lies into understanding his core interest. Once his core interest I'm able to identify, what I usually do is I identify top journals and the top papers that have been published in that domain in last 2-3 years.

I because since since the person coming to me is a student, I understand that he will not be.

Be able to do this exercise that which is the best journal, where should I look for the paper. So what I do is I give him a road map that this is how I have identified these paper and I asked him to follow the same journey and come with more papers. I asked him to read those papers.

And then see whether this interests him, whether he understands it or not and what questions. After reading this he has. Once he ha he comes up with this question, we try to identify if we can find gaps in that. Then I ask the student. I guide the student on doing a literature review how to do it. I I guide him on designing the search query and use databases like Scopus for identifying quality papers. Here Here only I introduce the student with.

The quality journals the one parameter of journals like Schemago journal ranking. He should look for only top top journals like Q1Q2 journals. Or the student is introduced to ABDC category journals where I ask usually the student to focus on a star A&B category journals so that the literature that he reads is of quality. Because unless and until he reads quality papers, he will not be able to articulate accordingly.

So this is how I start guiding the student.

Thank you, Professor. Your approach of identifying a student’s core interest, guiding them towards quality resources, and introducing them to advanced tools like Scopus and journal rankings demonstrates a comprehensive and mentorship-driven methodology. This ensures that students are equipped to pursue rigorous research aligned with professional academic standards. Let’s move on to your teaching pedagogy. Could you discuss how you ensure structured communication and a clear teaching approach when delivering complex finance topics to students?

So when I'm dealing with complex finance students, I believe in breaking down these complex concepts into simpler concepts. For example, when I'm teaching financial derivatives, When it comes to financial derivatives, introducing the student to the derivatives is not that difficult.

The point where the student finds it most difficult is when it comes to pricing, where they use black and shows model and the binomial option pricing model. And then for the complexity comes when we integrate option Greeks into pricing of the options, especially your ADA, gamma, delta, Theta, Vega and rho into the.

The black and scholars model and how these Greeks will affect the price of the.

Option So when it comes to dealing with these concept, it is very imperative that the student understands the relationship of different factors. For example, everybody, every student understands that when it is when it comes to derivative, the price of the underlying is very important. So they focus the first thing when I ask them to name when it comes to the factors affecting derivative pricing, they will say that the price of the underlying, but they also need to understand broader macroeconomic parameters.

Take interest rates like volatility, especially implied volatility. So when it comes to teaching those concepts, what I do is I start with volatility and to explain volatility, I start with standard deviation, standard deviation, then coming to variance, then coming to value at risk, then coming to volatility and then coming to implied volatility. So if you are able to weave the entire story from the most basic concept to the complex concept, I feel it becomes easy for.

Student to understand it and then there are real life examples.

Right. So there are lot of uh platforms available which I use in the class where the student can clearly see though these parameters affecting. So there are simulations where I can change the interest rate and see the effect on the pricing. And if this institution has not subscribed to such platforms, what I usually do is I build them. I build them into my excel sheet.

Right. So the entire model is created and the moment I change any of the parameters, the student will be able to see the effect on the price. So when the student does it on his own, uh, this experiential learning I think makes it easy for the student to, uh, grasp the concept.

Thank you, Professor. Your ability to break down complex finance concepts systematically—from foundational terms like standard deviation to intricate components like option Greeks—exemplifies clarity in teaching. Leveraging simulations and even creating custom Excel-based models for experiential learning reflects a highly structured and innovative approach. This ensures students not only comprehend theoretical principles but also witness their practical applications firsthand. Now, let’s discuss your experience in guiding student publications in reputed journals. Can you explain an instance where you successfully mentored a student from research design to publication in an esteemed journal? How did you navigate challenges during the process?

OK, so there are three instances where I have done this while two papers have already been published. I remember when I was working with Symbiosis and it is during the COVID time, there were two students, one was Miss Smriti Dureha and the other one was Shweta Kumari. They as part of their research project in MBA, they were working, Smriti was working on behavioral biases and how it affects investment decisions.

While Shweta Kumari was working on integration of international market and the efficiency during the I mean during their MBA period, they were doing this research. So initially since it was a COVID period and the students were sitting, sitting remotely, they did not have access to the campus. They were not able to sit face to face. But yet continuously guiding them on mobile phone on the Google meeting and telling them how to extract.

Data, how to collect data, how to design the questionnaire, understanding what are the biases. For example, in case of Smriti, she was working on behavioral biases and she was absolutely new in the field of behavioral finance. They did not have a subject called behavioral finance at all. So it was very challenging for me to understand what are these biases. So then I explained her what are these biases? I explained her, I gave her books on where she can find the relationship.

Please

How the theory says how such, how a bias affects the behavior. And then I gave her research papers which have worked on these domains and then I helped her identify the research gaps. The paper was published in a Web of Science Index journal while Shweta also published the data her paper based on secondary data. Unfortunately, the journal got delisted from Scopus before the paper was published.

So I do. I cannot claim that the published that they are published in a Scopus journal.

No who I have guided on how to do a meta analysis. So the students are working on this sustainability and ESG integration and I have taught them how to conduct a meta analysis. So I help them identify their search string and download the data from Scopus database. Then segregate the papers based on the empirical findings as them. I taught them how to make the entire table for meta analysis and then run the analysis. So the paper as of now is complete.

But yes, the students tried to publish similarly. Right now there are two students.

The editing part and we are just in the process of submitting the paper to a journal.

Thank you, Professor. Your detailed examples illustrate an exceptional dedication to mentoring students through every phase of research—from conceptual understanding, gap identification, and data collection to advanced methodologies like meta-analysis and publication processes. Even under challenging circumstances, your ability to guide students effectively in producing quality work reflects strong academic leadership. Moving forward, let’s address your industry experience or consultancy work. Could you elaborate on your involvement in industry-related projects or consultancy services, particularly how they have informed your teaching or research practices?

And Arjuna, I'm unfortunately I do not have any industry experience nor have I done any consultancy project. But yes I have taken some workshops for industry people and in fact I was part of the MDP team that conducted 2 MDPS for industrialist. Sorry industry people in Rajkot. But otherwise as such I do not have any research project with the industries or conference.

Understood, Professor. While direct industry experience or consultancy might be limited, your involvement in conducting workshops and Management Development Programs (MDPs) for industry professionals showcases a valuable bridge between academic concepts and practical applications. This, combined with your extensive teaching and research expertise, still provides significant value to fostering industry-academia collaboration. Lastly, your research publications in reputed journals are a notable highlight. Could you share the methodologies or theories you specialize in that have consistently earned acceptance in international journals?

So the methodology is that I have worked up till now is Emmetric analysis and systematic literature reviews. I have published a paper on bibliometric analysis in Taylor and Francis book and then I have published 2 papers using econometric analysis in International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management.

Then I have also published 2 more.

Book chapters in Springer using the econometric analysis while I have limited exposure to working on primary data, but since 5 of my scholars 4 of my scholars are working on behavioral finance and they are in the just in the starting phase of the of their PhD. So I'm looking forward to working with the primary data using SEMP LS when they.

Start with the data collection and analysis part of the thesis.

Thank you, Professor. Your expertise in econometric analysis, systematic literature reviews, bibliometric analysis, and published works in reputable forums like Taylor & Francis and Springer underline a strong academic and research foundation. Your forward-looking approach to working with primary data and tools like SEM-PLS with your scholars demonstrates a continuous evolution in your research methodologies. With this, I believe we’ve covered most aspects of your profile and expertise. Is there anything specific you'd like to add or discuss further before we wrap up?

Arjun, I would really want to reiterate that I have a keen desire to keep learning and I keep learning things, whether it whether if whether I'm learning it from my students or whether I'm learning it from my fellow faculties or I'm learning it from my scholars. But I constantly thrive to learn new things, learn new methodologies and I really want to develop myself as.

Because these students are our brand ambassadors and I really want to be remembered in the memories of my students as a good teacher who was able to solve their problems, was able to guide them, who was able to take them out of their problems. And I'm ready to go to any lengths for this when it comes to math events.

A teacher to whom a student looks up to.

Uh, and no, uh, no, Arjun, thank you so much and thank you so much for this, uh, interaction. And I really look forward to coming to VIT campus on 28th and meet the people over there. Thank you for this interaction, Arjun. I think we can wrap up for the day.

Thank you, Professor. Your passion for teaching, commitment to lifelong learning, and dedication to your students' growth are truly commendable. It’s clear that you not only aim to excel academically but also strive to inspire and positively impact the lives of those you mentor. If there's nothing further you'd like to add, do let me know, and we can conclude the interview. Is there anything else you’d like to address or share?

I think we can wrap up if you have anything to ask, I'm open to your questions.

Thank you for your time and insights, Professor. Just to confirm, are you requesting to officially end the interview at this point?

Yes.

Thank you, Professor. I believe we’ve covered everything required comprehensively. Just to ensure, would you like to proceed with concluding the interview now?