Zehavit Levitats is a lecturer (U.S. assistant professor) at the department of Political Studies, Bar Ilan University, Israel. Her work focuses on Behavioral Public Administration. She specializes in studying emotions and emotional intelligence (EI) within the public service and uses emotion-related constructs to explain for civil servants’ attitudinal, affective and behavioral work outcomes. In her research she uses an interdisciplinary perspective and experimental methods to advance the theoretical knowledge and practical insights that will help enhance the effective management of government ministries, public agencies, and semi-public institutions.

Her current research projects center around some of the key issues and challenges faced by public administration institutions, such as: buffering civil servants’ stress and burnout; enhancing public sector engagement and social equality in public service; and building public trust, to name a few. In her previous work she has coined and examined constructs unique to the public sector and elucidated their association to the concept of emotional intelligence. Her work has been accepted and published in highly ranked peer-reviewed journals, such as Public Administration Review (PAR); Public Administration (PA) and Review of Public Personnel Administration (ROPPA).

Prior to joining the Department of Political Science at Bar Ilan University, Zehavit completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Yale University, CT, USA. During her fellowship she was on a prestigious research grant for outstanding female post-doctoral fellows, on behalf of the Israeli Council for Higher Education (VATAT). She continues to be a research affiliate at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and collaborator on the Emotion Revolution in the Workplace Project, working closely with some of the leading scholars in the field of EI.

Zehavit has extensive experience as a lecturer for undergraduate and graduate students and was a member of the managing board of one of the Executive MPA programs in Israel. Over the years she has taught various courses, including: a research seminar on emotional intelligence in the workplace; management and leadership principles for public executives; behavioral public administration research; human resource management; and the development of public administration theory.