My research examines how employee autonomy relates to experiences of workplace diversity and 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 social class is also prominent in much of my work.

I primarily employ ethnographic methods, and I have performed four ethnographies of professional workers: STEM research consultants, IT workers at a financial services firm, drug development researchers, and STEM university professors.

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 & James Mellody (2025) “Concerted Quantification: How Knowledge Workers Limit Overwork While Maintaining Client Satisfaction.” (In press at Organization Science.)

Conzon, Vanessa & Ruthanne Huising (2024) “Devoted but Disconnected: Managing Role Conflict through Interactional Control.” Organization Science, 35(6):2117-2140.

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 & 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)

Conzon, Vanessa. “Remote Work and Psychological Safety.” (Under review, Organization Science)

Conzon, Vanessa,* Yang, Duanyi,* Park, Dongwoo & Erin Kelly. “Flexible Work Policies and Career Penalties.” (* denotes equal authorship) (Under review, Organization Science)

Ghaedipour, Farnaz & Vanessa Conzon. “Socio-Visibility Bind: How Idealized Images of Work (Re)produce Inequality in the Creator Economy.” (Under review, Journal of Management Inquiry)

Conzon, Vanessa & Poonam Zantye. “Control and Autonomy.” (In-press for the Handbook of Organizational Control)

Select Working Papers and Works in Progress
Conzon, Vanessa. “Leniency, Organizational Failure, and Hegemonic Masculinity.”

Conzon, Vanessa. “Temporal and Spatial Autonomy.”

Cameron, Lindsey, Conzon, Vanessa, & Laura Lam. “Inequality in Platforms.”

Lee-Yoon, Alice, He, Joyce & Vanessa Conzon. “Social Class Origins as a Dimension of Diversity.”