Maša Tonković Grabovac was born in Zagreb, where she completed her primary and secondary education. She graduated in psychology from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, in 2007, and obtained her PhD in 2013 with a dissertation on response faking in personality questionnaires in personnel selection contexts. She has undertaken additional professional training in work and organisational psychology, advanced data analysis, science communication, cognitive behavioural therapy, and counselling.
While still a student, she worked at the Centre for Psychodiagnostic Instruments at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. From 2008 to 2016, she was employed at the Chair of Work Psychology and Ergonomics within the Department of Psychology at the same faculty, first as a research assistant, then as a senior research assistant and research associate. From 2017 to 2025, she was involved in teaching at Algebra Bernays University, where she also contributed to the development of new higher education programmes.
Since 2016, she has been employed at the Department of Psychology of the University of Zagreb’s Centre for Croatian Studies, now the Faculty of Croatian Studies. As an associate professor, she teaches courses in work and organisational psychology, as well as psychological research methodology and psychometrics. She also teaches the Human Resource Development course within the interdisciplinary postgraduate specialist programme in Human Resource Management.
She has participated in several research projects funded by the Croatian Science Foundation, the University of Zagreb, and European funds. At the Faculty of Croatian Studies, she currently leads the institutional research project “Psychological Determinants of Work Behaviour and Employee Well-Being in Contemporary Working Conditions.” At the same time, she is working on the development of the Croatian Integrity Test.
She has published several dozen scientific and professional papers and regularly participates in national and international conferences. She has received several awards for her scientific work, including the University of Zagreb Rector’s Award, the Alpe-Adria Conference Young Researcher Award, and a group Croatian National Science Award for the promotion and popularisation of science. She is actively involved in communicating psychology to the wider public and, as a licensed psychologist, applies psychological knowledge in counselling and human resource management.