Harriet Sanya

Vigilance, Cognitive Recovery, Stress, Human/ Team Performance, Factors that impact decision Making, and Fatigue in general aviation.

Harriet is a second-year doctoral student in the Human Factors and Applied Cognition (HFAC) program at George Mason University, working under the mentorship of Dr. Tyler Shaw.

She brings a diverse background shaped by experiences in industrial organizational psychology (I-O Psychology): decision making, change perception from an I-O Psychology perspective, the impact of Black stress, and human factors in aviation.

Her primary research interests center on human performance, stress recovery, vigilance, and the influence of stress and/ fatigue on professional environments. She is particularly interested in cognitive recovery, decision making and training under pressure, especially in aviation contexts, as well as how bias manifests and operates within the aviation industry.

Selected Publications

Johnson Ph D, T. W., Timmons, A., Ford, K. V., & Sanya, H. (2024). A Double Taboo? An Exploratory Study of Mental Health Perceptions amongst Black Aerospace Professionals.

Education

BA. George Mason University, 2019

MS, Southern New Hampshire University, 2021 (Advisor: Chantel Ritner & Dr. Troy Muhammad)

PhD, George Mason University, 2026 (Advisor: Dr. Tyler Shaw; Co-advisors: Dr. Gerald Matthews & Dr. William Helton)