Biography
Dr. Amanda M. Main is an award-winning industrial and organizational psychologist, lecturer of management and executive coach. She has engaged audiences internationally on topics related to business, psychology and self-development; published in academic journals, textbooks and industry handbooks; and been featured in magazines and podcasts for her expertise on organizational behavior. She has worked on projects for some of industry’s biggest names from NASA to one of the first ventures to gain funding on Shark Tank. She enjoys helping empower others to unlock their potential in the workplace.
Dr. Main earned her BS in psychology from the University of North Georgia, where she was later lauded as the Young Alumnus of the Year in 2018 for her outstanding professional achievements, public service and exemplary service to the university. She went on to earn her M.S. and Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology from the University of Central Florida. Following her graduation, Dr. Main worked in the UCF Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning as an instructional specialist, facilitating pedagogy enhancement and training in order to scale her impact on students at UCF. She soon missed the classroom and joined Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., as an associate professor of management. She also lectured at Florida Institute of Technology in the Master of Organizational Leadership program. Dr. Main never forgot her black and gold roots, and as soon as there was an opportunity to come back to Knight Nation as part of the College of Business, she got here as soon as she could and is thrilled to be part of the UCF Department of Management family!
Teaching Philosophy and Specialties
Dr. Main’s teaching philosophy is closely tied to her coaching philosophy: she believes that everyone has unlimited potential waiting to be unlocked, and she believes that she can help unlock it. Her mission is to inspire others to see their own potential and to facilitate their development into the best versions of themselves though teaching, guiding reflection and reinforcing the power of choice.
Dr. Main recognizes that the teaching and learning of management provides students with immediate opportunities to discover authentic connections between the subject matter and their careers. She approaches this task through a belief that all students can succeed, remaining focused on continuous improvement and designing active learning experiences that engage students and enrich their learning beyond the classroom to empower them to thrive in the dynamic world of business.
Dr. Main has taught in Management, Psychology and Pedagogy at the undergraduate and graduate level on topics such as:
· Strategic Management
· Leadership
· Conflict Resolution and Negotiation
· Organizational Behavior
· Team Dynamics
· Creativity and Innovation
· Entrepreneurship (Traditional, Rapid Start-Up, Social, and Corporate)
Research Specialties
Dr. Main’s research focuses on harassment and mistreatment in the workplace, and her dissertation, Not Woman Enough Harassment: An Integrated Model from Antecedent to Outcome, expanded the construct space for gender-based harassment to more fully capture all of the experiences women may face in the workplace. She also studies leadership, team dynamics, and organizational climate and culture and has conducted studies with NASA astronauts in order to improve their debriefing procedures. Her studies have been presented at national and international professional conferences and have been published in journals including the Journal of Organizational Behavior, Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, Academy of Business Research Journal, and International Journal of Business and Management Research, and books including Global Corruption & Ethics Management, and Handbook of Research on Trans Disciplinary Knowledge Generation.