Presented by: Dr. Tracy Dumas
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This talk will provide a broad overview of my research focus and take-aways from articles central in my research stream. I study the effects of employees’ personal, non-work-related roles and identities (personal lives) on their experiences and behaviors at work (professional lives). Within this broad area of interest, my research considers how individuals and organizations enact the personal-professional boundary, and how employees respond when aspects of their personal lives conflict with their professional lives, shape perceptions of their status in the workplace or render them dissimilar from their colleagues.
The experience of conflicting demands or values between life roles, and the perceived inability to express oneself authentically at work have negative consequences for employees such as increased turnover, stress, exhaustion, poor performance, and disengagement (Frone et al., 1992; Hewlin, 2009; van Steenbergen & Ellemers, 2009; Wayne et al., 2013; Williams & Alliger, 1994). Additionally, organizational research reveals racial minorities’ concerns that highlighting their racial identity in the workplace may cost them status, thus many take pains to reduce the salience of their racial category at work (Dumas, Phillips & Rothbard, 2013; Dumas & Sanchez-Burks, 2015; Phillips, Rothbard & Dumas, 2009; Roberts, 2005). My research goal is to advance our understanding of the conditions allowing employees to excel at work and engage meaningfully with their non-work communities while remaining true to their personal identities.
