Research

I introduces the concept of Hierarchical Demographic Configurations (HDCs) to explain how the racial composition of supervisors, peers, and subordinates shapes job seekers’ evaluations of organizations. Using a conjoint experiment and agent-based simulations, I show that 1) each tier has significantly different patterns of preference, and 2) even such modest preferences — when repeated across workers and time — can generate substantial segregation across organizations. The study highlights how job seekers’ attention to the demographic legacies of past exclusion helps sustain current segregation.

This paper develops the concept of Bias-Amplified Signals to explain how past achievements can differentially influence advancement for women and men in male-dominated settings. Drawing on longitudinal promotion data and a vignette experiment, we show that while women are initially less likely to be promoted, prior success in biased contexts yields disproportionately higher returns for them than for men. The study highlights how the value of career achievements depends jointly on candidate gender and the organizational conditions under which success is earned.

This paper takes a spatial perspective on organizational inequality, examining how the racial composition of surrounding neighborhoods shapes workplace demographics beyond local labor supply. Using EEO-1 and Census data with matched comparisons across proximate establishments, I find that firms in Whiter neighborhoods employ disproportionately more White workers, especially in customer-facing and low-wage roles. The effect persists even within the same firm across locations—most strongly in healthcare—highlighting how local racial norms and consumer dynamics influence organizational inequality.

I study how the broader institutional environment shapes firms’ ability to recruit diverse talent. Using EEO-1 establishment data and agent-based simulations, I investigate how different levels of segregation in institutional fields constrains new entrants’ ability to recruid diverse talent. This work highlights field-level dynamics as a key driver of structural inequality in labor markets.

How perceived similarities between a candidate’s past and potential employers shape evaluations? My emerging findings suggest that organizational evaluators favor candidates from firms similar to their own in structure, culture, or market position. I am currently designing an audit study to test how perceived similarity and organizational prestige jointly affect callback rates for otherwise comparable candidates.