Nearly a decade of working in the oil and gas industry did not lead Okina Fitriani to leave the academic world behind. An alumna of the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), she has continued teaching, pursued doctoral studies, and developed research in the field of parenting. A woman of West Sumatran heritage who was born and raised in Yogyakarta, Okina has demonstrated that a career in industry can go hand in hand with meaningful contributions to research and academia.
Okina’s academic journey at the Faculty of Psychology UGM began when she pursued her undergraduate degree, graduating in 1996. She then immediately continued her studies in the Professional Psychology Program at the same institution.
After completing her professional psychology training, Okina began her career in 1998 in the oil and gas industry, joining PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia, which was later renamed PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia. She spent nearly a decade working at the multinational company, remaining there until the end of 2009.
Alongside her work at Chevron, Okina also had the opportunity to teach at IAIN Sulthan Syarif Qasim Pekanbaru, now known as UIN Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau. She taught every Friday and Saturday from 1999 to around 2002.
“At that time, it was very difficult to find lecturers in Pekanbaru, so while working at Chevron, I also taught at IAIN Suska,” Okina said.
Her commitment to lifelong learning encouraged Okina to continually strengthen her academic qualifications. Her enthusiasm for academia never waned, even while she was pursuing a career in the oil and gas industry.
In 2005, Okina pursued a master’s degree at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), specifically at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. At the time, the work she was involved in became the basis for her thesis, which examined merger management and employee commitment. She graduated with a Master’s degree in 2007.
Her determination to deepen her knowledge of psychology led Okina to pursue a doctoral degree at the same university. At this level, she made a significant shift in her academic focus. While her earlier work centered on Human Resources and Industrial and Organizational Psychology, she later moved into Developmental and Cognitive Psychology.
“I shifted from Human Resources, from industrial and organizational psychology, to developmental and cognitive psychology,” she said.
This change in focus eventually led Okina to research parenting. In her doctoral dissertation, she scientifically tested the Enlightening Parenting Module, a parenting program she had initiated and developed since 2010.
The development of the Enlightening Parenting Module expanded through various parenting-related activities, including training, consultation, and book writing.
“I developed a parenting module that I had actually started building in 2010. I then wanted to make it scientifically proven, so I made it part of my dissertation,” she explained.
Through her doctoral research, Okina examined the effectiveness of the Enlightening Parenting Module. The findings showed that the module was effective in increasing parents’ parenting self-efficacy while reducing their tendency toward violent behavior toward children.
Okina officially completed her doctoral studies in 2025 and attended her graduation ceremony in early 2026. This achievement further underscores the contribution of UGM alumni in developing evidence-based solutions to strengthen family resilience and parenting practices in Indonesia.
Report: Nur Amalina Naada Sabrina
Writer: Fadia Hayu Godwina
Editor: Erna Tri Nofiyana
Photo: Personal Documentation