Kelly Gabriel

Kelly P. Gabriel is a fifth-year doctoral candidate in Management and Organizations at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management. Before coming to Eller, she earned a M.S. in Psychology with a minor in Gender and Women’s Studies in 2019 and a B.A. in Business Administration in 2015, both from Villanova University. Her research explores how strategies aimed at promoting valuable organizational outcomes, such as equity and well-being, can inadvertently yield negative consequences. While positive organizational cultures, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, and well-being-focused strategies are generally lauded in organizational settings, her research reveals numerous reasons why they may backfire. She uncovers the hidden pitfalls associated with these ostensibly beneficial strategies and proposes solutions to mitigate these challenges, such that these important organizational aims might be better achieved. To address these questions comprehensively, she employs a rigorous multi-method approach, including ethnography, interviews, and experimental methods, tailored to the specific demands of her research inquiries. Kelly has received grants and awards based on her research, teaching, and practical impact.

Selected Publications:

• Gabriel, A.S., Chawla, N., Gabriel, K.P. (2024). Navigating job search as a college student: What we know and where scholars, job seekers, and recruiters need to go. In J.E. Slaughter & D.G. Allen (Eds.), Essentials of employee recruitment (pp. 147-170). Taylor & Francis Group.
• Sawyer, K.B., Gabriel, K. P., Dutli, A., & Gabriel, A.S. (2023). Work-family conflict and gender. In Elgar Encyclopedia of Gender and Management.
• Aguinis, H., & Gabriel, K. P. (2022). International business studies: Are we really so uniquely complex? Journal of International Business Studies, 53, p. 2023-2036. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-021-00462-x 
• Aguinis, H., & Gabriel, K. P. (2022). If you are serious about impact, create a personal impact development plan. Business & Society, 51(4), p. 818-826. https://doi.org/10.1177/00076503211014482 
• Gabriel, K. P., & Aguinis, H. (2022). How to prevent and combat employee burnout and create healthier workplaces during crises and beyond. Business Horizons, 65(2), p. 183-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2021.02.037 Won Business Horizon’s Best Paper of 2022
• Aguinis, H., Villamor, I., & Gabriel, K. P. (2020). Understanding employee responses to COVID-19: A behavioral corporate social responsibility perspective. Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, 18(4), p. 421-438. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRJIAM-06-2020-1053 
• Won Outstanding Paper in the 2021 Emerald Literati Awards

Awards and Honors:

• Stephen Robbins Scholarship (2024). Awarded a $5,000 scholarship which is given to a PhD student each year in the Management Department. The award is based on annual performance reviews (with a specific focus on research-related performance) and voted on by the department faculty.
• Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award (2024). Awarded $500 for teaching performance (MGMT 433, Strategic Human Resource Management). This award is given to a PhD student each year in the Management Department, based on their student course evaluations and observation of their teaching.

Research Grants and Funding:

• University of Arizona Graduate and Professional Student Council Travel Grant (2024). Awarded $1,000 to present research at the Academy of Management Conference 2024.
• Eller College of Management Small Research Grant (2024). Awarded $1,800 to study the collective challenge of blindness stigma reduction under the faculty guidance of Dr. Nathan Podsakoff and Dr. Katina Sawyer.
• University of Arizona, Eller College of Management Doctoral Fellowship (2022-2025)
• George Washington School of Business Doctoral Fellowship (2019-2022)
• Graduate Research Assistant: Dr. Katina Sawyer’s National Science Foundation Grant (2017-2021): Male Champions for Gender Inclusivity: Received full funding through Master’s program and summer funding (2020, 2021). 

Research Interests:

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Positive Organizational Scholarship
• Organizational Culture
• Employee Well-being 

Professional Associations:

• Academy of Management – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Organizational Behavior; Human Resources; and Managerial and Organizational Cognition Divisions
• The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology