About Me

A little bit about my professional life and aspirations:

I am currently in my third year of graduate school at Rice University in Houston, TX. As a member of the Industrial/Organizational Psychology (I/O) department, I work with Dr. Michelle (Mikki) Hebl researching diversity in organization. My specific interests in the field lie in three areas: 1) turnover, 2) social support, and 3) gender issues. My current research ties all three of these interests together in a Master’s Thesis entitled The Influence of Work-Family Balance Based Realistic Job Previews on Job Decisions in Academia. This project uses a traditional I/O tool, the realistic job preview, to communicate information about work-family balance to men and women currently on the academic job market. The goal of this research is to reduce turnover in academic jobs, particularly by women who tend to be hit hardest with work-family conflict.

Another current project is turnover in academia by tenure-track faculty members. Again, I looked for gender differences here and found some interesting phenomena. For the full scoop, you’ll have to read my publication currently in progress! I am also working on a meta-analysis of gender differences in social support in the workplace and the effect on selected job outcomes, including turnover, job satisfaction, stress, and organizational commitment.

While most of my research has been about academicians, I would like to be a practitioner. I have always had a passion for learning, but two internships during college at I/O firms cemented my passion for the field. After graduate school, I hope to find a position that allows me to continue learning while applying my expertise to bettering organizations.

A little bit about my personal life:

I was born Yankee, but raised Southern. I was born during a blizzard in Rochester, NY in the winter of 1985. Shortly after, my family moved to Atlanta, GA, where my father worked for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and my mother worked for a computer software development company. I believe being raised in the South has given me a particular character. For more on this, I recommend the works of Flannery O’Connor, Celia Rivenbark, and Bailey White. Another major influence in my life was my alma mater, Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA. My years at Agnes, a very small women’s liberal arts college greatly effected the way I see the world. In particular, my experiences there have played a continued role in my research, as most of my work focuses on the experiences of women in the workplace and gender issues. Although I hold Rice very dear, in my heart, I am a Scottie.

In my limited free time, I am a contributing writer for an I/O blog called I/O@Work. I like to think that I have several hobbies, although I don’t always have time to devote to them. On occasion, you can find me knitting, watching sports, and/or entertaining my dog, a cockapoo named Milo. Most of these activities I do in tandem. When I have the income, I would like to become a foodie.

In June 2008, I married my high school sweetheart, Ben, who is a graduate student at Baylor College of Medicine.