At the Heartfulness Research Centre, recognised and affiliated with the philosophy department of the University of Mysore, Dr. Shivani is working as a professor and providing guidance to scholars in the field of spirituality and its effects from 2014 onwards for their Ph.D. The scholars under her guidance have worked in the following areas: An empirical study of the effect of values education on the behaviour of students; Spirituality as a Means of achieving Personal Excellence: A Case of the Sahaj Marg System of Raja Yoga; Dharma as the Foundation of Life in the Context of Sahaj Marg; A Study of Perceptions of Spirituality, Its Goals, and Its Benefits. At present, she is guiding two scholars: their research areas are spirituality, health and well-being; Sahaj Marg philosophy in the light of Upanishads.
She served as a Professor in Medical Sociology (from 2014 to July 2020) at Madras Medical Mission MMM College of HealthSciences.MogappairEast,Chennai-600037. She remained a faculty member and member of the Socio-Medical Faculty (from 2016 to 2019) in Tamil Nadu. Dr.M.G.R. Medical University (A Government Medical University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India).
She did her M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Social Sciences in Health from the Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, in the years 1994 and 2001, respectively. Area of M.Phil and PhD research was reproductive health of rural women in Kurukshetra district of Haryana state . She passed the University Grants Commission's test for the Junior Research Fellowship and the eligibility test for a lectureship in social work in 1983 and availed herself of the Junior and Senior Research Fellowships for Ph.D. research work. She has a M.A. in Social Work with a specialisation in Family and Child Welfare from Kurukshetra University and holds a second position at the university. She studied B.Sc. with Botany, Zoology, and Chemistry at the university college, Kurukshetra University. She has an M.B.A. in Human Resource Management from Indira Gandhi National Open University and an M.Sc. in Software from the Directorate of Distance Education at Kurukshetra University. She earned an M.A. in Sociology from the distance education department of the University of Madras.She has also completed online Coursera courses on Epidemiology, System thinking in Health, and the NPTEL course on Fundamentals of Research Methodology.
Professional recognition: A biography related to her studies and work experience has been published in a book with the title, "Work and Life of a Professional Social Worker." Edited by Kamlesh Kumar Sahu and Chittaranjan Subudhi, Published by the Indian Society of Professional Social Work. The book has an ISBN number of 978-81-954684-4-7 and is available on Amazon.
She was honoured with a national award, the "Bharat Vikas Award," in 2022 for research in social aspects. Her contribution in the field was published in the book "The Magnificence of Humbles. ISBN: 978-81-907938-0-3
Courses Handled:She has taught for the following courses: Ph.D. (Philosophy), M.Phil. (Social Work), M.S.W. and B.S.W. (Social Work), M.Sc. and B.Sc. (Medical Sociology), M.A. (Gender Studies), B.Tech. ( Subjects: Industrial Sociology and Management), and MBA (Distance Education, University of Madras). She has guided students projects on Hospital Management, Social Work, and Medical Sociology.
Research Interests: Dr. Shivani is a journal article reviewer with the support of ORCID. She has published papers in the national and international journals and chapters in the edited books with ISBN number.A concept paper written by her was helped to develop as a Protocol by the Central Leprosy Training and Research Institute, Chengalpattu, for a project proposal on an innovative method of raising awareness about leprosy. She has organised an outreach programme for the students with innovative methodology with the Centre for Research Interdisciplinerate Paris.
She has organised Indian Council of Medical Research and Indian Counc