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Dr Lara Zibarras

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School of Health & Medical Sciences Department of Psychology and Neuroscience

Contact details

About

Overview

Dr Zibarras became a lecturer in the Organisational Psychology Group at City University London in 2008. She was previous Programme Director of City's MSc in Organisational Psychology and currently admissions tutor for the course.

She joined City in 2004 as a research assistant and then in 2005 started her PhD, during which time she had various course related responsibilities including teaching and dissertation supervision. Prior to her PhD she held diverse roles from training and development, IT manager and independent consultant (working for a range of public and private sector organisations).

Dr Zibarras is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist (HCPC registered); an Associate Fellow of the BPS Division of Occupational Psychology and a member of the Society of Industrial and Organisational Psychology.

Since 2004 Dr Zibarras has been involved in a number of consultancy projects which have included:

- Developing a way to measure "effectiveness" within a social housing organisation (2022)

- Creating a patient outcome measure for knee and hip surgery with colleagues at Imperial College (2020-ongoing)

- The development and validation of selection methods for underwriters in a medium fintech company (2017-2021)

- Understanding unconscious bias during recruitment to support diversity and inclusion practices in leading law firms / management consultancies (2014-ongoing)

- Developing risk questionnaires (2009-2012)

- Evaluating selection processes/methods from an applicant's perspective, for a local council and medical / dental deaneries (2007-2009)

- Gender perceptions in occupations (2007)

- Development of appraisal tools for a small market research company (2006-2007)

- The design and validation of selection tools for a leading, medium sized recruitment consultancy (2006)

- The development and validation of innovation selection tools in a large, multinational organisation (2005)

- Design, development and evaluation of a database training course in a medium sized organisation (2004-2005)

- Development of database and website interfaces for a property company, using user-centred and usability design techniques (2004-2005)

Qualifications

  • PhD, City, University London, UK, October 2016 - April 2010

Memberships of professional organisations

  • Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology, 2006 - present
  • Division of Occupational Psychology, 2004 - present

Research

Research summary

Dr Zibarras' research interests lie broadly within selection, innovation and sustainability in the workplace. Her PhD research focused on the applicant perspective in selection and examined the determinants of application fairness perceptions in high-stakes selection settings.
Her research in selection/assessment and psychometrics has attracted funding for a research programme focused on high-stakes selection and assessment (2011-2012); revalidation of psychometric questionnaires (2014-2015) and developing psychometric assessments for loan underwriting (2017-2020).
Dr Zibarras has also directed research funded by the Richard Benjamin Trust, examining the role of psychological theories in explaining why employees engage (or don't) in pro-environmental workplace behaviours (2011-2012). This builds on previous research exploring the barriers and facilitators to pro-environmental behaviour at work.
She has also been involved in a number of innovation research projects, including an examination of the relationship between innovation and personality characteristics, and funded research (by Nestlé UK) exploring how to select innovators.

Research students

Natalia Mladentseva

Attendance: October 2017 - present

Thesis title: Developing alternative psychometric measures to assess loan suitability in micro-lending

Role: 1st Supervisor

Antonio Pangallo

Attendance: October 2011 - October 2014, full-time

Thesis title: An exploration of the measurement of resilience in palliative care workers

Role: 1st Supervisor

Publications

Publications by category

Books (3)

  • Yates, J., Zibarras, L. and Mahmood, L. (2023). Organisational Psychology. Routledge.
  • Patterson, F. and Zibarras, L. (Eds.), (2018). Selection and Recruitment in the Healthcare Professions: research, theory and practice. Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783319949710.
  • Lewis, R. and Zibarras, L. (2013). Work and occupational psychology: integrating theory and practice. SAGE.

Chapters (14)

  • Zibarras, L., Yates, J., Horan, S. and Zernerova, L. (2023). Well-being and work. Organisational Psychology (pp. 68-86). Routledge.
  • Zibarras, L. (2023). Psychological assessment. Organisational Psychology (pp. 13-32). Routledge.
  • Gerson, J., Mahmood, L. and Zibarras, L. (2023). Research design and evidence-based practice. Organisational Psychology (pp. 200-216). Routledge.
  • Yates, J., Zibarras, L. and Mahmood, L. (2023). Introduction. Organisational Psychology (pp. 1-9). Routledge.
  • Patterson, F., Ferguson, E. and Zibarras, L. (2018). Selection into Medical Education and Training. (pp. 375-388). Wiley. ISBN 9781119373827.
  • Patterson, F. and Zibarras, L. (2018). Preface. Selection and Recruitment in the Healthcare Professions: Research, Theory and Practice (pp. v-vii). ISBN 9783319949703.
  • Patterson, F. and Zibarras, L. (2018). Preface. Selection and Recruitment in the Healthcare Professions: Research, Theory and Practice (pp. v-vii). ISBN 9783319949703.
  • Patterson, F. and Zibarras, L. (2018). Preface. Selection and Recruitment in the Healthcare Professions Research Theory and Practice (pp. v-vii).
  • Patterson, F. and Zibarras, L. (2018). Reflections on the Future Challenges for Researchers and Practitioners in Selection for Healthcare. Selection and Recruitment in the Healthcare Professions (pp. 327-350). Springer International Publishing. ISBN 9783319949703.
  • Zibarras, L. (2018). Applicant Perceptions and Reactions to Selection. Selection and Recruitment in the Healthcare Professions (pp. 193-221). Springer International Publishing. ISBN 9783319949703.
  • Zibarras, L. (2017). what encourages employees to go "green"? Towards an understanding of pro-environmental behaviour in the workplace. In Niven, K., Lewis, S. and Kagan, C. (Eds.), Making a Difference with Psychology. The Richard Benjamin Trust.
  • Woods, S., Zibarras, L. and Hinton, D. (2017). Recruitment and Selection. In Crawshaw, J., Budhwar, P. and Davis, A. (Eds.), Human Resource Management : Strategic and International Perspectives Sage Publications.
  • Patterson, F., Kerrin, M. and Zibarras, L. (2012). Employee innovation. In Pitsis, T.S., Simpson, A. and Dehlin, E. (Eds.), (pp. 163-188). EDWARD ELGAR PUBLISHING LTD.
  • Zibarras, L. and Ballinger, C. Promoting environmental behaviour in the workplace: a survey of UK organisations. In Bartlett, D. (Ed.), The Psychology of Sustainability in the Workplace Leicester: British Psychological Society.

Conference papers and proceedings (5)

  • Zibarras, L. (2017). The dark matter of differential attainment (symposium). Division of Occupational Psychology Conference 4-6 January, Liverpool.
  • Zibarras, L. (2014). Exploring the drivers of energy-related behaviour in an Organisation. BEHAVE September-, Oxford, UK.
  • Zibarras, L. and Patterson, F. (2011). Using attribution theory to explore the psychological outcomes of high stakes selection. Division of Occupational Psychology conference January-, Warwickshire, England.
  • Greaves, M. and Zibarras, L. (2010). Using psychological theory to reduce energy consumption in the workplace. Energy in the City Conference June-, London.
  • Zibarras, L. and Patterson, F. (2009). Applicant reactions, perceived fairness and ethnic differences in a live, high-stakes selection context. Division of Occupational Psychology Conference January-, Blackpool, England.

Journal articles (30)

Posters (2)

  • Woringer, M., Jones Nielsen, J. and Zibarras, L. Development and Validation of the Attitudes and Beliefs about Cardiovascular Disease (ABCD) Risk Survey. NHS Health Check 2015 – Improvement through Collaboration Conference, 2015.
  • Woringer, M., Jones Nielsen, J. and Zibarras, L. Development and Validation of the Attitudes and Beliefs about Cardiovascular Disease (ABCD) Risk Survey. NHS Health Check 2015 – Improvement through Collaboration Conference, 2015.

Practitioner article

  • (2009). General Practice Update. Creative problem-solving at work, pp. 48-52

Thesis/dissertation

Professional activities

Online articles (4)

  • Oakam Accelerates Financial Inclusion in the UK with Alternative Data. (2017). Fintech finance Digital micro-lender, Oakam has provided over 420,000 loans totalling over £320 million to consumers overlooked by mainstream financial institutions since 2006. Alternative data is enabling Oakam to employ new methods in underwriting and risk management to expand credit access for financially excluded consumers in the U.K., while maintaining robust lending standards. “The democratization of smartphone technology and internet access is unlocking innovation that will bring the world’s 2.5 billion financially-excluded adults into the financial system,” said Frederic Nze, founder and CEO of Oakam. “Our digital customer journey gives us access to new insights and data sources that are accelerating inclusion and challenging traditional definitions of creditworthiness.” Data from FICO shows that 60-75% of traditionally un-scorable consumers could be assigned a more meaningful credit score using alternative data. For Oakam, supplementing traditional methods of underwriting, such as the analysis of credit bureau data with alternative approaches has enabled Oakam to evaluate a high volume of applications since inception. Oakam’s use of alternative data has also yielded positive repayment behaviour among customers. 70% of new customers made on-time repayments, despite previous challenges accessing credit due to their income levels; court judgements on prior loan defaults; status as a new resident of the UK; the absence of credit history or low credit scores; or some combination thereof. This is according to a study of 15,000 first-time Oakam customers between January 2015 and July 2016. In its constant drive for innovation in alternative underwriting, Oakam is partnering with City, University of London for a joint R&D project to further the usage of psychometric data and behavioural science in its risk decisioning. This partnership will allow Oakam to bring new scale to its business and lower the cost of borrowing by applying human expertise to a digital context. “City University is constantly looking for ways to innovate and partner with market leading companies making the partnership with Oakam a great fit,” said Dr. Lara Zibarras, senior lecturer in organisational psychology at City University and head of the initiative with Oakam. “Pushing the boundaries of alternative underwriting will begin to open doors for greater financial inclusion and help those who need it most.” Today, Oakam uses the following alternative sources for its underwriting: · Network associations: Similar to the use of relationship mapping on LinkedIn, Oakam assesses the connections between borrowers and applicants, based on social network data, geographic proximity, and referrals to study patterns that detect fraud or surface certain risk attributes. Data from Oakam showed that customers who were referred by other customers were 20% less likely to default than customers outside of any network. ● Reaction data from nudges: In addition to predicting risk, Oakam uses gamification to influence it. Through its gamified mobile app, customers are financially incentivised to repay their loans. Oakam has seen a 25% improvement in on-time repayment since April 2017 as a result. Gamification also provides access to behavioural data to strengthen Oakam’s future underwriting decisions. ● Unstructured data from online conversations: Oakam uses natural language processing and machine learning to analyse the conversations between potential customers and Oakam Digital Agents via its website, and to detect default risk or fraudulent intent. “The full potential of alternative data in cracking the challenge of global financial inclusion is far from being reached,” added Nze. “The benefits of digital approaches to micro-lending are just beginning to show. As more financial services providers embrace innovation, financial access and equality will accelerate across the developing and developed worlds.”
  • Oakam partners City University to explore the use of psychometric data in credit scoring. (2017). Finextra Digital micro-lender, Oakam has provided over 420,000 loans totalling over £320 million to consumers overlooked by mainstream financial institutions since 2006. Alternative data is enabling Oakam to employ new methods in underwriting and risk management to expand credit access for financially excluded consumers in the U.K., while maintaining robust lending standards. “The democratization of smartphone technology and internet access is unlocking innovation that will bring the world’s 2.5 billion financially-excluded adults into the financial system,” said Frederic Nze, founder and CEO of Oakam. “Our digital customer journey gives us access to new insights and data sources that are accelerating inclusion and challenging traditional definitions of creditworthiness.” Data from FICO shows that 60-75% of traditionally un-scorable consumers could be assigned a more meaningful credit score using alternative data. For Oakam, supplementing traditional methods of underwriting, such as the analysis of credit bureau data with alternative approaches has enabled Oakam to evaluate a high volume of applications since inception. Oakam’s use of alternative data has also yielded positive repayment behaviour among customers. 70% of new customers made on-time repayments, despite previous challenges accessing credit due to their income levels; court judgements on prior loan defaults; status as a new resident of the UK; the absence of credit history or low credit scores; or some combination thereof. This is according to a study of 15,000 first-time Oakam customers between January 2015 and July 2016. In its constant drive for innovation in alternative underwriting, Oakam is partnering with City, University of London for a joint R&D project to further the usage of psychometric data and behavioural science in its risk decisioning. This partnership will allow Oakam to bring new scale to its business and lower the cost of borrowing by applying human expertise to a digital context. “City University is constantly looking for ways to innovate and partner with market leading companies making the partnership with Oakam a great fit,” said Dr. Lara Zibarras, senior lecturer in organisational psychology at City University and head of the initiative with Oakam. “Pushing the boundaries of alternative underwriting will begin to open doors for greater financial inclusion and help those who need it most.” Today, Oakam uses the following alternative sources for its underwriting: • Network associations: Similar to the use of relationship mapping on LinkedIn, Oakam assesses the connections between borrowers and applicants, based on social network data, geographic proximity, and referrals to study patterns that detect fraud or surface certain risk attributes. Data from Oakam showed that customers who were referred by other customers were 20% less likely to default than customers outside of any network. ● Reaction data from nudges: In addition to predicting risk, Oakam uses gamification to influence it. Through its gamified mobile app, customers are financially incentivised to repay their loans. Oakam has seen a 25% improvement in on-time repayment since April 2017 as a result. Gamification also provides access to behavioural data to strengthen Oakam’s future underwriting decisions. ● Unstructured data from online conversations: Oakam uses natural language processing and machine learning to analyse the conversations between potential customers and Oakam Digital Agents via its website, and to detect default risk or fraudulent intent. “The full potential of alternative data in cracking the challenge of global financial inclusion is far from being reached,” added Nze. “The benefits of digital approaches to micro-lending are just beginning to show. As more financial services providers embrace innovation, financial access and equality will accelerate across the developing and developed worlds.”
  • Oakam Has Now Provided £320 Million in Loans to Consumers Overlooked by Traditional Finance. (2017). Crowdfund insider Oakam, an online micro-lender, has provided more tha 420,000 loans totaling £320+ million. These loans have gone to consumers ignored by traditionaly finance, says Oakam. Alternative data enables Oakam to utilize modern methods in underwriting and risk management to expand access to credit for financially excluded consumers in the U.K.. The credit is forwarded while maintaining robust lending standards. Frederic Nze, founder and CEO of Oakam, explains that the smartphone has been the vital variable in unlocking innovation to provide individuals financially excluded from the traditional system to powerful online services. “Our digital customer journey gives us access to new insights and data sources that are accelerating inclusion and challenging traditional definitions of creditworthiness.” Citing data from FICO, Oakam says that 60-75% of traditionally un-scorable consumers could be assigned a more meaningful credit score using alternative data. For Oakam, supplementing traditional methods of underwriting. Using analysis of credit bureau data along with alternative approaches has empowered Oakam to evaluate a high volume of applications. Oakam’s use of alternative data has reportedly yielded positive repayment behaviour among customers. Approximately 70% of new customers made on-time repayments, despite previous challenges accessing credit due to their income levels. Oakam has partnered with City, University of London for a joint R&D project to further the usage of psychometric data and behavioral science in its risk decisioning. This partnership is expected to allow Oakam to bring new scale to its business and lower the cost of borrowing by applying human expertise to a digital context. Dr. Lara Zibarras, senior lecturer in organisational psychology at City University and head of the initiative with Oakam, says they are constantly looking for ways to innovate and Oakam is a great fit; “Pushing the boundaries of alternative underwriting will begin to open doors for greater financial inclusion and help those who need it most.”
  • Managers failing to encourage ‘green’ behaviour at work. (2011).