What I do

Design and conduct qualitative research to provide clear, unbiased insights into participants' experiences and perspectives.Translate abstract ideas and concepts into usable frameworks and structuresDevelop learning experiences that turn complex concepts into practical understanding and behavior.Identify and mitigate risks to credibility, ethics, and reputation

Selected Experience

Director of Organizational Strategy & Development

Strategic Sales Queen

• Voice of the Client research & analysis
• Translate sales strategy into deliverables (frameworks, scripts, assets)
• Ethical messaging & risk evaluation

Doctoral Researcher

University of Limerick, Department of Sociology

• Qualitative research design & execution
• Thematic analysis & insight generation
• Systems & organizational analysis

Tutor

University of Limerick, Department of Sociology

• Seminar facilitation & discussion leadership
• Translation of abstract theory into tangible, real-world examples
• Inclusive classroom & participation design

How I Work

I work by...

• Protecting the integrity of data, language, and decisions;
• Identifying misalignment before it becomes a problem;
• Translating complexity into usable clarity;
• Pushing back on weak logic, bias, and manipulation; and
• Designing for real people rather than ideal users.

Resume

• PDF Document

Contact

• Email
• LinkedIn

Rachel H. Whitbeck, Ph.D.

I’m Learning Python Because I Want to Mod The Sims 4 🐍

I started learning Python a few weeks ago through the University of Michigan’s Python for Everybody specialization on Coursera. I’m nearly finished with the first course!I’ve seen Python listed as a preferred skill in a few job descriptions this summer, but it is not central to the roles I’m targeting. So why am I spending an hour a day learning it?Because I want to mod The Sims 4.I’ve been playing The Sims since 2003, and at this point, “dedicated player” feels like an understatement. I build spreadsheets, storyboards, character histories, timelines, and elaborate systems that no one asked me to create. Naturally, this eventually led me to mods.It took me 20 years to start using them, but since March 2023, I’ve curated and managed thousands of mods and custom content files. Let us not dwell on the exact number. We all have our burdens.More recently, I’ve wanted to build my own mods. The community is clear that you do not need to be a coder to start modding, which is true. However, I knew I was missing a basic understanding of how the pieces fit together. What is a string? What is TDESC? What is tuning? Is XML a coding language? A markup language? An ancient ritual language? I’m learning.The Sims 4 uses C++ and Python, so Python seemed like a useful place to start. It gives me enough grounding to understand what I’m looking at, ask better questions, and eventually build more complex mods.This is also how I tend to learn in general: start with a real problem, get curious, build enough structure to understand it, and keep going until the fog clears.That habit has served me well in research, teaching, organizational strategy, learning design, and now, apparently, simulated people arguing in kitchens.And if Python also makes me a stronger candidate for roles involving research, AI-enabled workflows, data, or process improvement? That’s just a career buff. 💚

Organizational Leadership in DE&I

This certificate was added to my LinkedIn profile last week, and I wanted to say a bit about why I finished it.I started Rice University's Organizational Leadership in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Specialization on Coursera back in November 2024, moved away from it for quite a while, and finally finished it last week.After I submitted my final doctoral thesis, I thought I would focus my career directly on DEI work. Obviously, the market has changed since then, but the principles still matter, and I like to finish what I've started. Moreover, the underlying lessons apply across many facets of company culture, learning, belonging, and organizational development.The specialization, taught by Dr. Richard Anthony Baker, was practical by design. It defined a process for making improvements within organizations: diagnose the problem, understand the culture, plan the intervention, prepare people for change, measure what happens, and adjust accordingly.Here are the top five transferable skills I refined:1. Benchmarking and organizational diagnosis
2. Climate and culture assessment
3. Change readiness and feedback loops
4. Training that transfers into practice
5. Resistance, communication, and reframingThe material connected well to my sociology training: ask good questions, look for patterns, listen to the people closest to the problem, and refuse to treat symptoms as root causes.Whatever an organization calls this work—DEI, belonging, culture, engagement, learning, or organizational development—the practical questions remain.

Hire a Sociologist

Had to get a free trial to The Economist because I so wanted to read this article.I never meant to become a sociologist.My first love was literature, then political science. I earned my BA in political science, and then went into my MPhil in Race, Ethnicity and Conflict at Trinity College Dublin thinking sociology would give me another lens before I returned to political science.Oh, but I fell in love. 💖Harrington is right: Sociology is an affliction to the comfortable. It refuses to stop at individual explanations when systems, structures, organizations, and norms are doing most of the work. It asks who gets treated as the default, whose behavior gets scrutinized, whose comfort is protected, and what everyone has learned not to question.Workplaces are social systems: Teams have norms; leaders create incentives, whether they mean to or not; organizations tell stories about themselves that may not match what people actually experience. There are often gaps between intent and impact.While a sociology degree may not scream “hire me” as neatly as an MBA, a good sociologist brings something organizations badly need: the ability to diagnose patterns, question assumptions, trace problems to their roots, and understand behavior in context.So, consider hiring a sociologist. We are very good at noticing the water we're all swimming in 😉