Talking through the emotions of major life changes

Master’s candidate pulls from her personal experience to connect with women in research study

When Anushree Gogate moved from her native India to the United States, she left behind a career as a television producer to build a family and a new life in a new country.

It was not an easy transition.

“In India, I was an independent, working woman,” says Gogate, who majored in communications at an Indian college. In the United States, she was a wife without a visa to work. She used the lull in her career to have two children and focus on her family.

Her experience of making major life adjustments that triggered many emotions as she lived through them helped Gogate as a graduate student in the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication.

She has done research work with Dr. Lan Ni, associate professor of communications and her thesis advisor.

“Anushree has worked with me on a project related to the mental health and immigration experiences of Indian immigrants in Houston,” says Dr. Ni. “She very quickly learned to engage in high quality, in-depth interview research after receiving some basic training from me.”

Her thesis, Exploring the Role of Social Media in Relationship Building and Conflict Resolution: A Case of Whole Foods Market, explores public perception of the usefulness and effectiveness of social media in corporate communication efforts to reach consumers.

For the past three years, Gogate has balanced her family life in Katy with her own educational and career objectives – and used her life experience to guide her thesis research.

“Staying at home with my children for those years increased the challenge I knew I would eventually face when restarting my career,” Gogate says. “So, I decided to pursue a graduate degree so that I could work towards resuming my profession here in America. I enrolled at UH in Spring 2011.”

Even after she fulfilled her obligation as a research assistant, Gogate continued working with Dr. Ni because she wanted to help document the experiences of Indian immigrants like herself, a huge and growing group in Houston.

This December, Gogate is graduating from CLASS with a Master’s degree in Public Relations and her sights set on a new PR career in Houston.

“I am on the threshold of venturing back into the professional realms after a gap of 10 years,” says Gogate.

Although it is a long way from India, Gogate feels that her adopted home of Houston will offer her professional career options with opportunities for advancement, while still allowing her time to be a wife and mother.

“Being a communicator at heart, I always wanted to stay close to my interests without compromising on my familial responsibilities. Moreover, Houston offers a decent diversified PR job market with ample room for growth,” says Gogate.

- By Monica Byars