Providing management research for social change.
Research Philosophy
My research seeks to answer how institutions can be transformed to improve the livelihood, well-being, and mental health of marginalized workers.
Lifespan of Stressors and the Workplace
Trauma from early in life, such as maltreatment and community violence, often leads to compounded stressors across the lifespan. This often results in employment challenges, such as unemployment, low-wage work, unstable job retention, and increased absenteeism. Systemic oppression and job discrimination additionally interact to create even greater cumulative stress for communities of color.
I collected data from over 1,000 employees to examine the impact of early life trauma in the workplace and the disparate effect for Black workers. Moreover, I assessed the levels of supervisor support perceived by Black workers compared to White workers to account for any differences. As such, social support systems can buffer against the harmful effects of traumatic stress. Findings can help build trauma-informed management practices that recognize, address, and disrupt oppressive systems that re-traumatize workers of color.
Women of Color and the Resilience Paradox
Women of color often face increased discrimination due to exposure to both sexism and racism. This “double jeopardy” of gendered racism is detrimental to the mental health and well-being of women of color, as they are more likely to be hypersexualized, criminalized, and perceived as less intelligent than White women. In the workplace, this can have injurious effects on their career advancement and belongingness with their peers. Women of color may thus adopt ascribed gendered racial stereotypes, such as the Strong Black Women schema, as a coping mechanism to counter workplace discrimination through displays of strength, self-sufficiency, and resilience. However, this heightened self-reliance has also been found to increase symptoms of depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress.
I investigated this phenomenon by exploring the use of self-reliance in the workplace among Black and Latinx women employees, and its impact on outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and their sense of belonging with peers. In addition, I examined the protective effect of supervisor support against negative outcomes.