Rate My Professor Helena Nguyen

Helena Nguyen is a Professor in Work and Organisational Studies in the University of Sydney Business School. She is co-director of the Body, Heart and Mind in Business Research Group. Nguyen received her PhD and Master's in Organisational Psychology from the University of New South Wales, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Australian School of Business, UNSW. Her career at the University of Sydney has progressed through senior lecturer and associate professor roles to her current professorship. She leads several high-impact, industry-engaged projects focused on employee health and wellbeing at work.

Nguyn's research specializations centre on how emotional and cognitive processes interact to shape employees' well-being and performance, with particular emphasis on organisational behaviour, organisational psychology, and management in high-stress sectors like healthcare and services. Her scholarship explores topics such as emotional labour, compassion at work, mindfulness for compassionate care, display rules in teams, service teamwork, leader influence on mental health during crises like COVID-19, and extrinsic emotion regulation. Key publications include 'Who cares for those who care? The role of healthcare leaders in employee mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic' (2023), 'A meta-analysis of the relationship between service teamwork and service performance' (2023), 'Managing with compassion in a complex, changing world: New research and application' (2025), 'Does it matter why we try? How goal-focused extrinsic emotion regulation influences employee well-being and performance' (2025), and 'Mindfulness: Creating the Space for Compassionate Care' (2015). Her work has accumulated over 2,500 citations on Google Scholar. Nguyen has secured major grants as Chief Investigator, including ARC Discovery Project DP210103484 on emotion regulation (2021) and ARC Linkage Project LP160100505. She received the ABDC Network Award for Innovation and Excellence in Research in 2020. Additional contributions encompass funded projects such as Better Leadership in Healthcare (2017-2018, $45,000) and Impact of Silence in the Workplace, alongside public engagement through podcasts, seminars, and media on mental health, resilience, and emotional resources in demanding jobs.