Time: Friday, 21 October 2022, 10:30–12:00
Room: Speakman 200
Michelle Carter
Associate Professor
Washington State University
https://directory.business.wsu.edu/Directory/Profile/michelle.carter/
Abstract
In recent years, organizations of every shape and size have embraced the “whole self” movement, which encourages employees to show up authentically in the workplace. The movement dovetails with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and organizations’ use of social media to signal allyship with historically disadvantaged groups. Such signaling encourages job candidates to follow suit, as a means of demonstrating their trustworthiness and confidence to prospective employers. However, while social media allyship can lead to positive outcomes for organizations, it may not benefit individuals. Cybervetting research cautions against taking a public stand on potentially sensitive social issues in case it negatively affects perceptions of job suitability. Thus, the “whole self” movement creates an interesting conundrum: on one hand, organizations may view social media allyship positively; on the other, it could prove detrimental to individuals if the stance taken is not aligned with the values of hiring agents who use online content to evaluate job candidates. In this presentation, Michelle Carter will discuss research that takes an identity perspective to explore hiring agents’ views on the effectiveness of social media allyship in general, and for individuals’ job prospects.
Bio
Dr. Michelle Carter is an associate professor in the Carson College of Business at Washington State University and an affiliate associate professor in the Information School at the University of Washington. Michelle’s research focuses on information technologies’ involvement in identity and social change, factors that shape IT usage behaviors, and information systems management. Her work has appeared in MIS Quarterly, the European Journal of Information Systems, the Journal of the Association for Information Systems, the Journal of Information Technology, as well as other journals, books, and conference proceedings. Michelle is an associate editor for the Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS) and a senior editor of the upcoming JAIS special issue on technology and social inclusion. She is a past-president of the Association for Information Systems (AIS) Special Interest Group on Social Inclusion and previously chaired the AIS committee on diversity and inclusion. Michelle is a Distinguished Member – Cum Laude of the AIS and was recognized for her research and service contributions to the IS field as a 2016 recipient of the AIS Early Career Award. In 2021, Michelle was elected to serve on the AIS Council as Vice President for Special Interest Groups and Colleges.