Dr Dawn Chow

Profile

I am an Organization Studies scholar.

I am interested in how organizational or institutional systems perpetuate problems, inertia, fissures, and stigma. For example, some of my research deals with political polarization, and how years of civil wars, social movements, and differing ways of life have led to deep fissures within society, and in particular, within organizations.

By combining neo-institutional theory with new theoretical perspectives on political ideology, my research shows how top management teams respond to external pressures for diversity. In my other work, I also demonstrate that M&As are less likely to be undertaken when merging workforces of opposing political ideologies. In my research on the identity work of professionals, I also take a sharper critical perspective on the ‘dark side’ of professional work, and how structural power and control processes frame dirty work contexts surrounding these professionals.

Dr Dawn Chow

Senior Lecturer in Management

Current Projects

I have a few ongoing projects.

One, I am studying the relationship between polarization at the board and director exit. I argue that increasing polarization raises misfit perceptions of directors that belong to the minority ideology within the board, and that, in turn, leads to exit.

Two, I am involved in a 60-country global mega-study on which climate intervention strategy (beliefs, policy support, information sharing, and behavioral) best motivates people to change their climate beliefs and behaviors.

Three, I am looking at the process of workplace identification and overlaying this with ‘mobilities’ concepts such as ‘nomadism’, ‘sedentarism’, and ‘non-places’.