Pamela S. Tolbert

People/Faculty
Professor (Phased Retirement)
Organizational Behavior
Missing alt

Contact

133 Statler Dr
392 Ives Hall Faculty Wing
Ithaca, NY 14853
United States

Tel
+1 (607) 255-9527
CV
Pamela S. Tolbert CV
Overview

Professor Tolbert is the Lois S. Gray Professor of ILR and Social Sciences in the Department of Organizational Behavior. She came to the ILR School after receiving her Ph.D in sociology from UCLA. She is broadly interested in processes of organizational change, culture and entrepreneurship, and organizational practices and social inequality.

Teaching Statement 

She offers classes on organization theory, organizations and social inequality, and organizational life cycles at all levels - undergraduate, professional Masters, and doctoral.

Research Statement 

Her current research includes work on social influences on entrepreneurial choices, diversity management in organizations, and design and change in cultural organizations. She has served on the editorial boards of a variety of organization and sociological journals, as the book review editor for Administrative Science Quarterly, and as a senior editor for Management Science, Academy of Management Review, Organization Science and Administrative Science Quarterly. She has also been a guest editor for a special issue of Organization Studies on careers, and an issue of the ILR Review on diversity management practices.

Service Statement 

ILR Director of Graduate Studies, 2015-2019; Chair, Department of Organizational Behavior 1997-2013 and 2019-2022; Acting Director Sloan WorkFamily Careers Institute, 2003.

Outreach Statement 

Advisory board member of ILR's Labor and Employment Law program. Co-organizer of LELP conferences, 2015, 2014, 2011, 2010, 2008.

Areas of Expertise

Affirmative action
Change and development
Complex organizations
Discrimination
Diversity and Inclusion
Education (organizations and systems)
Entrepreneurial firms
Equal employment opportunity
Gender and families
Human Resources
Inclusive organizations
Innovation
Institutional structure and politics
Occupational segregation
Occupations and Professions
Organizations
Strategic tactics
Technology and work
Temporary and contract workers
Wage differentials and inequality
Women in the workplace
Work and families
Workplace democracy

Publications

Journal Articles

  • , , & . . A rising tide lifts all boats: The impact of consensus in evaluation criteria on investments in an emerging technology field. Organization Science. (DOI:10.1287/orsc.2021.1493)
  • , & . . Art and audience: Complex identities in U.S. art museums. Poetics, 72(February), 94-107.
  • , & . . Editorial essay: Introduction to a special issue on inequality in the workplace. ILR Review, 70(1), 3-15.
  • , , & . . Impact of family ecnomic structure on dual-earners' career and family satisfaction. Sex Roles, 75(7), 349-362.
  • , , & . . Friend or foe? The effects of contingent workers on standard workers' job sttitudes. International Journal of Human Resources Management, 11, 2180-2204.
  • , , & . . The Impact of Categorical Status, Numeric Representation and Work Group Prestige on Preference for Demographically Similar Others: A Value Threat Approach. . Organization Science, 23, 386-401.
  • , , & . . Institutional theory and entrepreneurship research: Studying choice and change. Organization Science, 22(5), 1332-1344.
  • , , & . . Studying Choice and Change: The Intersection of Institutional Theory and Entrepreneurship Research. Organization Science, 22(5), 1332-1344. (DOI:dx.doi.org/doi:10.1287/orsc.1100.0601)
  • , , & . . Career as a social and political phenomenon in the globalized economy.. Organization Studies, 32, 613-620.
  • , , & . . Institutions in action: Tenure systems and faculty employment in colleges and universities. Work and Occupations, 38(3), 340-371.
  • , & . . The shape of things to come: Institutions, entrepreneurs and the case of hedge funds. Research in the Sociology of Work, 21, 157-182.
  • , , & . . From Pabst to Pepsi: The Deinstitutionalization of Social Practices and the Creation of Entrepreneurial Opportunities. Administrative Science Quarterly (Cornell), 54(4), 635-667. (DOI:dx.doi.org/doi:10.2189/asqu.2009.54.4.635)
  • , & . . On organizations and oligarchies: Michels in the 21st century. Sociological Classics and Organization Research.
  • , , & . . Risky Business? Entrepreneurship in the New Independent-Power Sector. Administrative Science Quarterly (Cornell), 50(2), 200-232.
  • , , & . . The role of the physical environment in supporting organizational creativity. Journal of Interior Design, 29, 18-35.
  • , & . . Men's and women's definitions of "good" jobs: Similarities and differences by age and across time. Work and Occupations, 25, 147-162.
  • . . Two-tiered faculty systems and organizational outcomes. New Directions for Higher Education, 104, 71-80.
  • , & . . Institutionalization and structuration: Studying the links between action and institution. Organization Studies, 18, 93-118.
  • , , , & . . Effects of gender composition on faculty turnover. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 48, 562-579.
  • , & . . Sources of organizational demography: Faculty sex ratios in colleges and universities. Sociology of Education, 64(4), 305-317.
  • , & . . Physicians' work. ILR Report, 26, 8-13.
  • , , & . . Aspirations to manage: A comparison of engineering students and working engineers. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 32(2), 239-253.
  • . . Organizations and inequality: Sources of earnings differences between male and female faculty. Sociology of Education, 59, 227-245.
  • . . Institutional environments and resource dependence: Sources of administrative structure in institutions of higher education. Administrative Science Quarterly, 30, 1-13.
  • , & . . Institutional sources of change in the formal structure of organizations: The diffusion of civil service reform, 1880-1930. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 22-39.

Book Chapters

  • . . Failure to Institutionalize? The Case of High Performance Work Systems. In Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management. (pp. 21-44). Emerald Publishing.
  • . . Gender demography and organizations: An ongoing (and possibly unending) research agenda. In Perspectives on Gender and Work. (pp. 221-231). Information Age Publishing.
  • , , & . . Institutional theory of organizations. Oxford University.
  • , & . . Bases of conformity and institutional theory: Understanding organizational decision-making. In Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Emerald Publishing.
  • , & . . Prologue: Individuals, Organizations and Institutions. In Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Emerald Publishing.
  • , & . . Studying entrepreneurship as an institution. In Knowledge and Institutions. (pp. 42). Springer-Verlag.
  • , & . . Neo-institutional theory. In Encyclopedia of Management Theory. (pp. 5). Sage.
  • . . Robert Michels and the Iron Law of Oligarchy. In Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements. Wiley-Blackwell.
  • , & . . The shape of things to come: Institutions, entrepreneurs and the case of hedge funds. In Research in the Sociology of Work. (pp. 157-182). JAI Press.
  • , & . . On organizations and oligarchies: Michels in the 21st century. In Sociological Classics and Organizational Research. (pp. 174-199). Oxford University Press.
  • , , & . . Causes and consequences of variations in groups' gender composition. In Handbook of Gender Studies. (pp. 179-202). Sage Publications.
  • . . Occupations, organizations and boundaryless careers. In Boundaryless Careers. (pp. 91-107). Oxford University Press.
  • , & . . The institutionalization of institutional theory. In Handbook of Organization Studies. (pp. 175-190). Sage Publications.
  • , , & . . Effects of group proportions on intergroup relations. In Work Team Diversity: Perspectives and Paradigms. APA Press.
  • . . Comment on "War and Peace". In Doing Exemplary Organizational Research. Sage Publications.
  • . . Future status of women in white collar and professional occupations. In Breaking the Barriers: White Collar Women on the Move. (pp. 1-7). Department of Professional Employees, AFL-CIO.
  • , & . . At the intersection of organizations and occupations. In Research in the Sociology of Organizations. JAI Press.
  • , & . . Governance structures in large law firms. In Research in the Sociology of Organizations. JAI Press.
  • , & . . Inequality in a company of equals: Participation in large law firms. In International Handbook of Participation in Organizations. Oxford University Press.
  • . . Negotiations in organizations: A sociological perspective. In Research on Negotiations in Organizations. JAI Press.
  • , & . . Institutionalization and negotiations in organizations. In Research on Negotiations in Organizations. JAI Press.
  • . . Institutionalization and organizational culture in major law firms. In Institutional Patterns and Organizations: Culture and Environment. Ballinger Press.

Book Reviews

  • . . Career and Family: Women's Century-Long Journey Toward Equity.
  • . . Review of Engines of Anxiety.
  • . . Review of 'The Systems of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor' by Andrew Abbott.
  • . . Review of 'Partners with Power: The Social Transformation of the Large Firm' by Robert Nelson.
  • . . Review of 'Strategy and Organization' by Glenn Carroll and David Vogel.
  • . . Review of 'Critical Studies in Organization and Bureaucracy' by Frank Fischer and Carmen Sirianni.
  • . . Review of 'Politics of Shopfloor Technology' by Barry Wilkinson.

Books

  • , & . . Organizations: Structure, Processes and Outcomes. Prentice Hall.
  • , , , & . . Oxford Handbook of Work and Organization. Oxford University Press.
  • . . Research in the Sociology of Organizations: Collective Bargaining (co-editor). JAI Press.
  • , & . . Research in the Sociology of Organizations: Organizational Demography and Current Research Issues. JAI Press.
  • . . Research in the Sociology of Organizations (co-editor). JAI Press.
  • , & . . Research in the Sociology of Organizations: Professions and Organizations. JAI Press.

Professional activities

  • Entrepreneurial Institutions. Presented to Cornell and McGill University. Montreal QC. 2023.
  • Symposium: An occupational lens on social inequality. Presented to Academy of Management. Seattle WA. 2022.
  • CEO Power and Non-Compete Agreements. Presented to Northwestern University. 2022.
  • Research Frontiers on How Institutions Facilitate Entrepreneurship. Presented to Strategic Management Society. London ENGLAND. 2020.
  • New Directions in Redsaerch on Occupations and Professions. Presented to Academy of Management. Vancouver CANADA. 2020.
  • Academic survival. Presented to Academy of Management. Vancouver CANADA. 2020.
  • A rising tide lifts all boats. Presented to Organization Science. Tucson. 2020.
  • Global Conversations: International Women's Day Celebration. Presented to ILR. Cornell. 2020.
  • Micro-foundations of institutional change. Presented to Academy of Management. Boston MA. 2019.
  • Master's Degrees: Cash Cows, Important Academic Endeavors or Both?. Presented to AAU. 2018.
  • Art and audience. Presented to UC Irvine. 2018.
  • Art and audience: Complex identities in U.S. art museums. Presented to Administrative Sciences Association of Canada. Montreal CAN. 2017.
  • Art and audience: Complex identities in U.S. art museums. Presented to University of Minnesota. Minneapolis, Minnesota. 2017.
  • Co-evolution of conflicting institutional logics: U.S. art museums, 1780-2010. Presented to Academy of Management. Anaheim, CA. 2016.
  • Studying entrepreneurship as an institution. Presented to Drexel University. Philadelphia PA. 2016.
  • Art & Audience: Category-Spanning Among U.S. Art Museums. Presented to University of British Columbia. Vancouver, BC Canada. 2016.
  • Art and Audiences: Category-Spanning Among U.S. Art Museums. Presented to MIT. Boston. 2016.
  • Studying entrepreneurship as an institution. Presented to Heidelberg University. Heidelberg Germany. 2015.

Honors and Awards

  • Fellow, Academy of Management.
  • Fellow, Judge School of Business, Cambridge University.
  • Lois S. Gray Chaired Professor of Industrial Relations and Social Sciences, Cornell University.
  • Robert N. Stern Graduate Student Mentoring Award, ILR/Cornell.
  • Outstanding Professor, Cornell National Panhellenic Council.
  • Best Published Paper, American Sociological Association.
Edit this profile if it's yours.