
Maura Mills
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About Maura
Mills' research focuses on issues related to human resources and organizational behavior, including how organizations can best structure work to facilitate improved employee experiences as well as optimal organizational outcomes. Overarching themes in Mills' writings include considerations of employee attitudes, engagement, well-being, and the work-family interface (balance, conflict, enrichment), particularly insofar as how they relate to employee gender. Mills is an active member of various professional organizations, including the Academy of Management, and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
Contributions
In the News
Publications
Draws on theory to propose an explanation regarding how and why specific components of physical appearance (e.g., hair, height, clothing, body type, attractiveness, etc.) influence interviewer perceptions of job applicants (e.g., through trait inference, perception of person-job fit, etc.), and how those characteristics ultimately inform the (in)accuracy of a hiring decision recommendation.
Identifies and unpacks specific workplace resources (e.g., time, facilities, tools, access, support) that facilitate employee lactation ability & duration. Specifies the work-related challenges (occupational, organizational, leadership, employee) that hamper employee lactation, recommendations for leaders, organizations, & employees alike in improving practice.
Unpacks employees' (in)ability to return to nonwork tasks after after-hours interruption from work, and the various negative consequences that such interruptions can have for employees.
Puts multiple faces – male as well as female – on complex realities with interdisciplinary & cross-cultural awareness and research-based insight. Examines & compares how women & men experience work-family conflict & its consequences for relationships at home as well as outcomes on the job.
Yields important implications, including empirical justification for work-life (work-family) management initiatives being extended to include men as well as women, and expanded for both genders. Mentions how this is particularly true for leaders, as high-level employees report especially intense workloads and unclear boundaries between domains.
Provides empirically-supported guidelines for organizations, leaders, and employees in supporting their transgender and gender-diverse coworkers and subordinates. Includes using gender-affirming pronouns/titles, discouraging derogatory comments, bathroom availability, and how each differentially predicts various outcomes such as job and life satisfaction.