One of the important goals of the Center for Human Resources is to cultivate and support research projects of Ph.D. students who are keen on exploring topics which are at the core interest of the Center such as hiring, talent management, nonstandard work arrangements, gig economy, and performance management. Ph.D. students are given financial support for their research projects as well as ongoing academic support and feedback from our Center’s faculty and senior research fellows.
Minseo Baek
Doctoral student, The Wharton School
I am in the fifth year of my PhD program in Management at Wharton. I am interested in understanding how different meanings and understandings shape individuals’ career outcomes. For instance, we may have different thoughts as to what competent workers would/could do, or what desirable careers would be. Such differences can in turn lead to different achievements or choices in our career. In my dissertation projects, I examine these questions by studying the initial professionalization experiences of entry-level lawyers in an elite law firm and the career decision-makings of elite college students.
I studied BA in Management and Film Studies in Korea University and MSc in Comparative Social Policy in Oxford University. Prior to coming to Wharton, I founded a top travel tech company in Korea. My exposure to film and drama profoundly shaped my way of understanding the world and got me interested in individuals’ own subjective worldview – their motives, thoughts, and understandings – behind their more readily visible actions and outcomes. Founding a startup involved working with people from all walks of life and led me to further delve into the interesting relationship between subjective and objective reality.
I love all kinds of outdoor activities and reading classic books in my free time.
Brittany Mallory
Doctoral student, The Wharton School
Brittany graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in psychology, then worked in marketing research in a variety of industries including health insurance, consumer products, and advertising, among others. She is interested in human capital and understanding the dynamics between workers and firms, including changes in mobility, worker preferences, and the geography of work.
Shun Yiu
Doctoral student, The Wharton School
Shun is broadly interested in understanding work and employment issues. His research focuses on examining how workers navigate the corporate ladder and how organizations could achieve success through the effective management of human capital. A current project of his explores how workers’ job choices have important implications for their advancement prospects. Another project that he is working on examines the link between managers’ work allocation decisions and worker retention. A second focus of his research examines the microfoundations of firm competitiveness. He is currently working on a study that explores how the success of corporate acquisitions is associated with the way employees view their work. Shun holds an M.S. in Human Resources and Employment Relations from Pennsylvania State University and a B.Soc.Sc in Psychology from the University of Hong Kong.
Elaine S. Pak
Doctoral student, The Wharton School
Elaine is interested in employee incentives and firm ownership. She is exploring ideas around employee stock options as incentives in startups. Her research interests include employee incentives, inequality, firm ownership, strategic human capital. She has a BA in Public Policy Studies from Duke University, MS in Industrial Engineering from Seoul National University. Elaine has an industry experience as a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. She is currently working on Firm ownership and within-firm wage inequality (with Claudine Gartenberg) and Initial coin offering and hiring (with David Hsu and Prasanna Tambe)