My research examines how employee autonomy relates to experiences of workplace inequality. Practically, these tensions regarding autonomy and control often relate to when, where and how work is performed (e.g., flex work, remote work, gig work, AI-augmented work). The importance of gender and class is also prominent in much of my work, reflecting how social positions, roles, and identities influence access to and experiences of autonomy. The role of technologies (AI, platforms, remote work technologies) in experiences of autonomy and inequality is often a feature of my research.
I primarily employ ethnographic methods, and I have studied workers in a variety of professions and industries: consultants, managers, IT workers, scientists, professors, entrepreneurs, CEOs, gig workers.
My research has received awards, including the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award and the Work Family Researchers Network’s Kathleen Christensen Dissertation Award. My dissertation was also a finalist for the Industry Studies Association Dissertation Award and the runner-up for the Louis Pondy Best Dissertation Paper Award.
Publications
Conzon, Vanessa & Ruthanne Huising (2024) “Devoted but Disconnected: Managing Role Conflict through Interactional Control.” Organization Science, 35(6):2117-2140. Download here.
Media coverage: Harvard Business Review, Gender and the Economy
Conzon, Vanessa (2023) “The Equality Policy Paradox: Gender Differences in How Managers Implement Gender Equality-Related Policies.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 68(3): 648-690. Download here.
Awards: Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award, Louis Pondy Best Dissertation Paper Award Runner-Up, Academy of Management Conference Best Paper
Media coverage: Harvard Business Review, ASQ Blog, Organizational Musing, WIP Sociology
Cameron, Lindsey, Thomason, Bobbi*, & Vanessa Conzon* (2021) “Risky Business: Gig Workers and the Navigation of Ideal Worker Expectations During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Journal of Applied Psychology, 106 (12): 1821-1833. (*denotes equal authorship.) Download here.
Media coverage: Forbes, The European Financial Review, I/O at Work, Knowledge@Wharton, Penn Today, The Gig Work Life, Phys Org, Carroll Capital
Pieces Under Review
Conzon, Vanessa. “Remote Work and Psychological Safety.” (Revise and Resubmit, Organization Science)
Conzon, Vanessa & Arvind Karunakaran. “Occupational Invocation: Managing Experts Through Occupational Norms.” (Revise and Resubmit, Academy of Management Journal)
Conzon, Vanessa* & Alexandra Feldberg*. “AI and Gender Inequality for Managers.” (* denotes equal authorship.) (Revise and Resubmit, Academy of Management Review)
Melin, Julia, Merluzzi, Jennifer & Vanessa Conzon. “Within-Gender Inequality in Labor Markets.” (Revise and Resubmit, Administrative Science Quarterly)
Ghaedipour, Farnaz & Vanessa Conzon. “Socio-Visibility Bind: How Idealized Images of Work (Re)produce Inequality in the Creator Economy.” (Revise and Resubmit, Journal of Management Inquiry)
Conzon, Vanessa,* Yang, Duanyi,* Park, Dongwoo & Erin Kelly. “Flexible Work Policies and Career Penalties.” (* denotes equal authorship) (Under review, Organization Science)
Conzon, Vanessa & Poonam Zantye. “Control and Autonomy.” (In-press for the Handbook of Organizational Control)
Select Working Papers
Conzon, Vanessa. “Leniency, Organizational Failure, and Hegemonic Masculinity.”
Conzon, Vanessa. “Temporal Autonomy and Spatial Autonomy.”
Conzon, Vanessa. “Technology and Connection.”
Cameron, Lindsey, Conzon, Vanessa, & Laura Lam. “Inequality in Platforms.”
Lee-Yoon, Alice, He, Joyce & Vanessa Conzon. “Social Class Origins as a Dimension of Diversity.”