About me
I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Work and Organizations at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. I study human resource management and industrial relations, with a focus on how workers and unions, employers, and institutional environments jointly shape employment relations. My research follows two broad lines of inquiry. First, I examine the causes of union decline and the consequences of collective employee voice. My job market paper investigates how prominent acts of employer opposition to unions can spill over across organizational boundaries through a study of the 1981 PATCO strike, during which U.S. President Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 striking air traffic controllers. I show that greater exposure to the striking controllers—and thus to the anti-union information conveyed by Reagan’s response—substantially reduced private-sector union organizing. This finding demonstrates how employer opposition at one workplace can affect other employers and workers, contributing to union decline on a broader scale.
Second, I study workplace inclusion, focusing on how unions and other forms of collective representation can promote or constrain inclusion across gender, immigration status, and other social identities. Across these areas, my research considers implications for workers, unions, and managers, including how organizations respond to employee voice, manage workplace conflict, support worker well-being, and build inclusive employment relationships. Methodologically, I draw on insights from economics, sociology, psychology, and organizational theory to inform rigorous quantitative analysis.
At the University of Minnesota, I have independently taught two labor relations courses at the undergraduate level. These courses explore the intellectual foundations of employment relations, the history of the U.S. labor movement, the fundamentals of U.S. labor law, and key aspects of international comparisons. I emphasize experiential learning by engaging students in interactive activities, such as interpreting legal cases, debating legislative proposals, conducting simulated collective bargaining, and participating in mock dispute resolution exercises. More broadly, I am interested in teaching and have a background in other business and management subjects, including human resource management, compensation and benefits, and people analytics. Before entering the Ph.D. program, I earned a Master of Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Renmin University of China.
Beyond my academic work, I am also a member of the Graduate Labor Union – United Electrical Local 1105 (GLU-UE) at the University of Minnesota, which represents over 4,000 graduate workers and fellows. I have worked as a labor organizer and served on GLU-UE’s bargaining committee during its first contract negotiations with the university. I believe in a person-to-person organizing model—one that connects workers through relationships in which their concerns are genuinely heard, understood, and addressed. I also believe in a democratic union process that empowers workers to tackle workplace issues and engage collectively with broader societal challenges.