Assistant Professor
Management
Biography
Liza Y. Barnes is an Assistant Professor of Management at the LeBow College of Business. Using primarily qualitative methods, she investigates how organizations can foster physical, mental, and relational well-being at work—particularly for individuals navigating moments of personal or professional vulnerability. She studies how employees manage identity-related challenges, power dynamics, and major life transitions, with a focus on underrepresented or lower-power groups. Her work has been published in top management outlets such as the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Applied Psychology, and Harvard Business Review.
Areas of Expertise
- Work Life Balance/Conflict
- Qualitative Research Methods
- Identity Management
- Compassion at Work
- Positive Relationships at Work
- Right-Hand Partners
- Behavioral Science/Org Behavior
Selected Works
Articles
Barnes, Liza, Lacerenza, Christina N., and Hardin, Ashley E., How Policy Implementation Impacts Employee Suffering at Work: An Exploration of Medical Leaves of Absence. Journal of Applied Psychology (Forthcoming).
Duffy, Margaret L., Barnes, Liza, Wirz, Christopher D., Ranganathan, Meghana, Freilich, Mara A., Freese, Lyssa M., Lalk, Ellen, and Wilcots, Julia, Factors influencing underrepresented geoscientists’ decisions to accept or decline faculty job offers in the US. Communications Earth & Environment 6 (Jan 2025):1-14.
Barnes, Liza, Lacerenza, Christina N., and Volpone, Sabrina D., Becoming a Right-Hand Partner: How Lower-Power Employees Heedfully Challenge Organizational Leaders. Academy of Management Journal 67 (Jun 2024):704-736.
Maynard, M. Travis, Conroy, Samantha, Lacerenza, Christina N., and Barnes, Liza, Teams in the wild are not extinct, but challenging to research: A guide for conducting impactful team field research with 10 recommendations and 10 best practices. Organizational Psychology Review 11 (Feb 2021):274-318.
Keplinger, Ksenia, Johnson, Stefanie K., Kirk, Jessica F., and Barnes, Liza, Women at work: Changes in sexual harassment between September 2016 and September 2018. PLOS ONE 14 (Jul 2019).
Grants
Small Research Grant (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology) $6,250 Jan 2022.
Awards
2023 AOM MOC Outstanding Reviewer Award (Academy of Management)