Adina Sterling

Research Statement

Adina D. Sterling investigates the ways organizations attract, manage, and retain high-value human capital in technology and business, the effect this has on the performance of employees and organizations, and the broader impact of these practices on inequality. For example, her work illuminates the ways firms strategically use the networks of employees to address timing issues when recruiting and hiring individuals, and that those hired with a social contact in the firm prior to starting are better integrated into a firm’s network after they join organizations. She currently has a number of projects investigating the tradeoffs between hiring through networks and hiring through trials such as internships, and is finding that the tradeoffs pertain to the performance of individuals, as well as equity-related issues, such as who is hired and what they paid.

Research Interests

• Economic Sociology
• Labor Markets
• Strategic HR
• Networks and Careers
• Inequality

Bio

Professor Adina D. Sterling graduated with honors from Ohio State University with a BS in chemical engineering in 2002 and graduated with her PhD from Emory in Organization and Management in 2011. She is an economic sociologist who specializes in studying the way firms and labor and product markets interact and the implications of these interactions on the prices firms get for their products, who gets hired and what they get paid, as well as the affects this has on social stratification. For instance, her work has investigated a) how initial networks evolve in organizations b) how hiring practices affect selection and wage decisions and c) how networks and prior employment affect the success of entrepreneurs.

Professor Sterling currently has projects investigating how traditional methods of hiring compare to trial employment, or when firms get the opportunity to observe individuals first-hand in organizations, such as internships prior to making hiring decisions. Her work has appeared in journals such as Management Science, Organization Science, Industrial Labor Relations Review, and the Annals of the Academy of Management. Prior to academia, Professor Sterling worked at Procter and Gamble as a senior engineer on brands such as Pampers and Oil of Olay.

Academic Degrees

• PhD, Organization and Management, Emory University, 2011
• BS, Chemical Engineering, The Ohio State University, 2002

Academic Appointments

• Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business, 2015 - present
• Assistant Professor of Strategy, Washington University, Olin Business School, 2011-2015

Professional Experience

• Senior Engineer, Research and Development, Global Baby Care and Beauty Care, Procter and Gamble, 2002 - 2006

Awards and Honors

• Shanahan Family Faculty Scholar, 2017-2018
• PhD Faculty Stanford GSB Distinguished Service Award, 2017
• Clayman BBS Faculty Fellows Program, 2016-2017
• CRES Research Grant, Washington University, 2014

Teaching

Degree Courses

• 2021-22
• OB 636: Economic Sociology of Markets and Organizationsopen in new window ;STRAMGT 519: Equity By Design: Building Diverse and Inclusive Organizationsopen in new window
• 2020-21
• OB 636: Economic Sociology of Markets and Organizationsopen in new window; STRAMGT 319: Equity By Design: Building Diverse and Inclusive Organizationsopen in new window
• 2019-20
• STRAMGT 519: Equity By Design: Building Diverse and Inclusive Organizationsopen in new window
• 2018-19
• OB 219: MSx: Organizational Designopen in new window
• OB 636: Economic Sociology of Markets and Organizationsopen in new window; STRAMGT 319: Equity By Design: Building Diverse and Inclusive Organizationsopen in new window

In the Media

• The ‘Overqualified’ Trap Can Hit You at Any Timeopen in new window ;Wall Street Journal August 19, 2019
• Gender Equality 2019 Symposiumopen in new window ;Stanford University | Clayman Institute July 04, 2019
• “Small Wins” in Action: How Scholarship Can Affect Changeopen in new window; Stanford University | Clayman Institute June 10, 2019