Alexis Nicole Smith is currently pursuing her doctorate in Organizational Behavior at the A. B. Freeman School of Business of Tulane University. Lex received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Rice University. Her focal area of research involves status and power in organizations as well as discrimination in and around the organization. In another branch of research, Lex focuses on worker health and safety in addition to the utility of various safety interventions. Lex has published research in the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology and contributed to edited books such as the Handbook of prejudice and discrimination and the International encyclopedia of organizational Studies. In addition, Lex is a member of and has presented research at the Academy of Management, the Southern Management Association, and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Research Interests
In my time at Tulane's Freeman School of Business, I've had the opportunity to conduct interesting research with a variety of advisors and other students. As a result, my current research interests reflect that diversity of experience. The first area of research interest involves status and power in organizations. More specifically, I am interested in how power derived from societal and organizational status plays out in individual experiences and the interpersonal dynamics of the workplace. Currently, this is my primary focus and the topic of my dissertation. My dissertation topic revolves around the notion of identity group status hierarchies. This concept, to my knowledge, has been insufficiently addressed in organizational research. The chief inquiry that helped me to develop my dissertation is whether people ascribe status to various identity groups and to what degree these ascriptions vary between people (i.e., is there a social status hierarchy that is imposed on identity groups at a societal level). My principal interest, however, is if and when these status ascriptions influence interactions between protégés and mentors engaged in diversified mentoring relationships. The second branch of research focuses on discrimination in and around the organization. This research examines how the attitudes of employers, employees, and community members influence the experiences and advancement rates of minority and female workers. This research tends to take both micro (e.g., attitudes and dispositions) and macro (e.g., organizational and community influences) approach to studying discriminatory behavior within organizations. The third branch of research focuses on worker health and safety. This stream of research generally examines the effects of management actions (e.g., safety training) and organizational factors (e.g., climate for safety and severity of environmental hazards) on worker safety knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes, in addition to the utility of various safety interventions. Again, this research tends to approach worker safety behavior from both macro and micro organizational perspectives.

DISSERTATION TOPIC

Dissertation Title: Empowering the Powerless: The Insulating Effect of Organizational Hierarchy on Diversified Mentoring Dyads
Dissertation Committee: Adrienne Colella (Chair, Tulane University), Arthur Brief (University of Utah), Mike Burke (Tulane University)
Description of Dissertation: The primary focus of my dissertation is status and power in organizations. I am interested in how power derived from societal and organizational status plays out in individual experiences and the interpersonal dynamics of the workplace. The inquiry that helped me to develop my dissertation is whether people ascribe status to various identity groups and to what degree these ascriptions vary between people (i.e., is there a social status hierarchy that is imposed on identity groups at a societal level). My principal interest, however, is if and how these status ascriptions influence interactions between protégés and mentors engaged in diversified mentoring relationships (mentoring between members of different races and/or genders). Drawing upon Alderfer's embeddedness theoretical framework, I suggest that diversified mentoring relationships will be more effective when the organization has integrated diversity at all levels of authority. Specifically, when the organization has a traditional homogenous structure (e.g., a white-male dominated firm with no blacks or females in power) then the organization may implicitly support stereotypical prescriptions that dictate that white males are high status while blacks and females are lower status. In this way, a homogenous firm may restrict the behaviors of mentors and protégés to their stereotypically prescribed higher and lower status roles. However, in a vertically integrated firm, no such prescriptions should govern the interpersonal interactions within the dyad. In taking into account the insulating effect of the context, my research may demonstrate that organizational integration can empower diversified mentoring relationships.

Research in Progress:

1) Paternalism Scale: Co-Authors: Adrienne Colella, Fernanda Garcia, Marla Baskerville Watkins. This study is to validate and develop a new paternalism scale that will be used to assess people's perceptions of paternalistic individuals. The validation studies will be conducted with TU undergrads initially, then administered to field samples for further development. Currently the scale is constructed and has been pilot tested, initial validation studies are in planning to be conducted Spring 2007.

2) Hegemonic Feminity: Co-Author: Marla Baskerville Watkins. This study is a theoretical piece that explores feminine identities and how they impact women's behavior, performance, and advancement at work. This project is in development for a theory submission to the AOM meeting in 2009.

4) Hazards & Safety at work: Co-Authors: Mike Burke, Suzanne Chan-Serafin, Rommel Salvador, Kristin Smith-Crowe, Shirley Sonesh. This project examines whether the degree of hazardous risk at work affects how much individuals learn from different levels of safety training. This meta-analysis is in the data-analysis stage and a manuscript will be submitted for publication in spring 2009.

3) Project on Women: Advisor: Art Brief. Co-Authors: Rommel Salavador, Michael Christian. This study investigates the environmental factors that influence the extent to which women use sexuality (i.e.: flirtation, provocative dress) in the workplace and the consequences of doing so. This study is a replication and extension of the first Project on Women study which examined whether women use sex as a tool for organizational advancement. We have extended the work by investigating the influence of organizational culture on women's behavior. Currently analyzing data.

4) Smith, A. N., Botsford, W. B., King, E. B., Knight, J. L., & Hebl, M. R. (2006). The view from outside: How perceptions of the climate for diversity influence organizational reputation. Manuscript in preparation (3rd R&R at JASP).

5) Smith, A. N., & Watkins, M. B. An integrated model of contextual and individual factors on influence tactics. Manuscript in preparation.

6) Bryant, D., Smith, A. N., & Watkins, M. B. The interactive effects of gender, charismatic leadership and self-monitoring on perceived leadership effectiveness. Manuscript in preparation.

7) Watkins, M. B., & Smith, A. N. The relationship between black population share and black managerial advancement. Manuscript in preparation.

8) Smith, A. N., & Stevens, F. G. I. Manuscript in preparation.