Sophie Leroy

Professor

Dean, School of Business

Sophie Leroy

Professor

Dean, School of Business

Dr. Sophie Leroy is a Professor of Management and Dean of the School of Business at the University of Washington Bothell. She received her Ph.D. from NYU, Stern School of Business. Prior to joining UW Bothell, she was a faculty member at the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management.

Dr. Leroy is an accomplished and internationally recognized scholar, having published her research in the top scientific journals in her field. She was the recipient of 2024 University-wide Distinguished Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Award, from the University of Washington Bothell and was on many prestigious editorial boards (i.e. Organization Science, Academy of Management Journal, etc.).

In her research, Dr. Leroy studies the effects of interruptions on the ability to have focused attention and reach high performance at work. Her results help understand how to manage task transitions and interruptions to enhance focus and performance, how to manage distractions, and more generally, how to regulate attention. She also studies how people manage and allocate time among their responsibilities and how people differ in their preference for synchrony with others.

She developed and coined the term Attention Residue. Attention residue reflects situations in which people find it hard to focus fully on the task at hand and instead find their attention shifting to other, unrelated tasks. Dr. Leroy’s research explores when and why attention residue occurs, how it affects performance, and how to prevent it when the effects are detrimental. She has appeared in many news outlets Click here to learn more about attention residue and click here to view her media appearances.

Dr. Leroy teaches courses in Leadership, Managing High Performance Teams, Managing Globally, Ethical Decision Making.

Since joining UW Bothell in 2014, Dr. Leroy received 8 teaching awards spanning from six times recipient of the MBA Faculty of the Year Award (often across both cohorts), the Undergraduate Program Teaching Award, and the Executive Education Distinguished Professor of the Year Award.

Education

Ph.D. Organizational Behavior – Stern School of Business, New York University – 2007

 

Master in Management (MBA equivalent) – HEC School of Management, Paris, France – 1998

 

MBA Exchange Scholar – Columbia Business School, New York – 1997

 

B.A. HEC School of Management, Paris, France – 1996

Courses

University of Washington Bothell – School of Business

  • Leadership, Team Process and Decision Making – Core class in MBA program
  • Leadership and Social Responsibility – Core course in MBA part-time program
  • Advanced Leadership – Core course in MBA part-time program
  • Managing Teams – Elective course in Undergraduate program
  • Managing Employees – Core class in the Undergraduate program

University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management

  • Ph.D. Seminar on Self-regulation – Special Topic seminar offered to 2nd Year Ph.D. students
  • Management and Organizational Behavior – Core course in MBA full-time and part-time programs
  • Managing People and Organizations – Elective – MBA part-time program
  • Managerial Psychology – Elective – Undergraduate program

Stern School of Business – New York University

  • Management & Organizational Analysis – Core management class – Undergraduate program
  • Negotiation and Consensus Building – Undergraduate program

Research and Scholarship Interests

  • Self-regulation especially as it relates to attention, ethics, and time.
  • Interruptions and task performance. Mindfulness. Leadership.
  • Artificial Intelligence in Business.

Employment

  • Associate Professor, School of Business, University of Washington Bothell, 2018-present
  • Assistant Professor, School of Business, University of Washington Bothell, 2014-2018
  • Assistant Professor, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, 2007-2014
  • Director – Brand Consulting and Corporate Identity, Interbrand, New York, 1999-2001
  • Associate – Shareholder Value Management, PricewaterhouseCoopers, New York, 1998-1999
  • Associate – US Equity Research, Societe Generale (Socgen), New York, NY, 1997-1998
  • Analyst – Mergers and Acquisitions, Societe Generale (Socgen), Paris, France, 1996-1997

 

Additional Academic Roles and Contributions

Board Membership

  • Academy of Management Journal
  • Journal of Business and Psychology

Ad Hoc Reviewing

  • Organization Science
  • Academy of Management Journal
  • Journal of Applied Psychology
  • Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
  • Management Science
  • Annual Meetings of the Academy of Management
  • TESS

Advising

  • Dissertation Chair for John-Gabriel Licht
  • Dissertation Committee Member for Tao Yang
  • Dissertation Committee Member for David Yoon
  • Dissertation Committee Member for James Beck (Psychology Department), 2012
  • Dissertation Committee Member for John Bechara, 2009
  • Co-directed (with Dr. Sally Blount) undergraduate honors thesis for Beth Welinsky, 2005-2006

Professional Affiliations

  • Academy of Management
  • American Psychological Association
  • Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
  • Society for Personality and Social Psychology

Selected Publications

Manchester, C., Leroy, S., Dahm, P., Glomb, T. (2023). Amplifying the gender gap in academia: The Covid-19 pandemic and differences in career success by gender. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society.

 

Leroy, S., Schmidt, M.A., Madjar,N. (2021). Working from home during COVID-19: A study of the interruption landscape. Journal of Applied Psychology. 106 (10), 1448–1465.

 

Leroy, S., Schmidt, M.A., Madjar,N. (2020) Interruptions and task transitions: Understanding their characteristics, processes, and consequences. Academy of Management Annals.14(2), 661-694.
Finalist for the Best Paper of the Year (one in five), 2021 Publication Award, Academy of Management Annals.

 

Leroy, S. and Glomb, T. (2018). Tasks interrupted: How anticipating time pressure upon return to an interrupted task leads to attention residue and low performance on interrupting tasks and how a “ready-to-resume” plan mitigates those effects. Organization Science.

 

Leroy, S. and Schmidt, A.M. (2016). The effect of regulatory focus on attention residue and performance during interruptions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Process.

 

Leroy, Shipp, Blount and Licht (2015). Synchrony Preference: Why some people go with the flow and some don’t. Personnel Psychology.

 

Dahm, P., Glomb, T., Manchester, C., and Leroy, S., (2015). Work-Family Conflict, Ego Depletion, and Self-Discrepant Time Allocation at Work. Journal of Applied Psychology.

 

Leroy, S. (2009). Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 109. pp. 168-181.
Best Paper Award, Academy of Management, MOC division.

 

Blount, S. and Leroy, S. (2007). Individual temporality in the workplace: How individuals perceive and value time at work. In Beth Rubin (Ed.), Research in the Sociology of Work (Vol. 17) – Work Place Temporalities.

 

Peer Reviewed Publications

Leroy, S., Schmidt, A.M., and Madjar, N. (In Press). Working from home during COVID-19: A study of the interruption landscape. Journal of Applied Psychology.

 

Leroy, S., Schmidt, A.M., and Madjar, N. (2020). Interruptions and task transitions: Understanding their characteristics, processes, and consequences. Academy of Management Annals.

 

Leroy, S. and Glomb, T. (2018). Tasks interrupted: How anticipating time pressure upon return to an interrupted task leads to attention residue and low performance on interrupting tasks and how a “ready-to-resume” plan mitigates those effects. Organization Science.

 

Leroy, S. and Schmidt, A.M. (2016). The effect of regulatory focus on attention residue and performance during interruptions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Process.

 

Leroy, Shipp, Blount and Licht (2015). Synchrony Preference: Why some people go with the flow and some don’t. Personnel Psychology.

 

Dahm, P., Glomb, T., Manchester, C., and Leroy, S., (2015). Work-Family Conflict, Ego Depletion, and Self-Discrepant Time Allocation at Work. Journal of Applied Psychology.

 

Leroy, S. (2009). Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 109. pp. 168-181.

 

Blount, S. and Leroy, S. (2007). Individual temporality in the workplace: How individuals perceive and value time at work. In Beth Rubin (Ed.), Research in the Sociology of Work (Vol. 17) – Work Place Temporalities.

 

Book Chapters

Blount, S., Waller, M., and Leroy, S. (2005). Coping with temporal uncertainty: When rigid, ambitious deadlines don’t make sense. In Starbuck, W. and Farjoun, M. (Eds.). Organization at the Limit (pp. 122-139). Blackwell publishing. Oxford, UK.

 

Invitation In Conference Best Paper Proceedings

Licht, J.- G., Leroy, S., & Vohs, K. D. (2014). Self-serving sins versus in-group indiscretions: How self-construal predicts unethical behavior. Paper invited to be published in the Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, Academy of Management Conference, Philadelphia, PA.

 

Leroy, S. (2011). Being present but not fully there: The challenge of anticipated time pressure in the context of interruptions. Paper invited to be published in the Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, Academy of Management Conference. San Antonio, TX.

 

Leroy, S. (2008). Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks. Paper invited to be published in the Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, Academy of Management Conference. Anaheim, CA.

Interviews/Podcasts

Selected Press and Media Features

Press Articles

A better way to deal with those constant interruptions, NBC News (2018)
You Asked: How Can I Use More of My Brain?, TIME Magazine (2017)
Management Is All in the Timing, strategy+business (2016)

Awards and Honors

  • MBA Faculty of the Year Teaching Award, University of Washington Bothell (2019
  • MBA Faculty of the Year Teaching Award, University of Washington Bothell (2018)
  • Undergraduate Faculty of the Year Teaching Award, University of Washington Bothell (2017)
  • MBA Faculty of the Year Teaching Award, University of Washington Bothell (2016)
  • Finalists for the best student led paper award – Managerial and Organizational Cognition division of the Academy of Management. Paper in collaboration with doctoral student J-G Licht. (2014)
  • One of four finalists for the best paper award – Managerial and Organizational Cognition division of the Academy of Management. (2011)
  • Awarded Dean’s Small Research Grant – award received five times. (2008-2012)
  • Winner of the best paper award – Managerial and Organizational Cognition division of the Academy of Management. (2008)
  • One of six finalists for the Newman Award granted to the best paper based on a dissertation. Nominated by the Managerial and Organizational Cognition division of the Academy of Management. (2008)
  • One of five nominees for Best Student Paper Award – Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division, Academy of Management meetings. (2006)
  • Recipient of Nadler Fellowship and other competitively-awarded research funding, NYU/Stern School of Business (2005)
  • Teaching Excellence Award, NYU/Stern School of Business (2005)
  • Rhône-Poulenc/Rorer – Aventis (Paris, France) – Research Grant (1996)
Dr. Leroy’s Words About Her Research on Attention Residue

I am passionate about the study of attention.

What allows us to have focused attention and what makes it so hard to do so in today’s world of interruptions, distractions, decentralized decision making and information overload?

 

What is Attention Residue?

“I’ve spent the last 17 years studying the brain and how we deal with having to constantly switch focus. What research shows is that, generally, the brain finds it difficult to switch between tasks. In particular, my research reveals that, as we switch between tasks (for example from a Task A to a Task B), part of our attention often stays with the prior task (Task A) instead of fully transferring to the next one (Task B). This is what I call Attention Residue, when part of our attention is focused on another task instead of being fully devoted to the current task that needs to be performed.”

 

When am I more at risk of experiencing attention residue?

“Attention residue easily occurs when we leave tasks unfinished, when we get interrupted, or when we anticipate that once we have a chance to get to the unfinished or pending work we will have to rush to get it done. Our brain finds it hard to let go of these tasks, and instead keeps them active in the back of our mind, even when are trying to focus on and perform other tasks.”

 

What does it mean for you?

“Going back to the analogy of a Task A and a Task B, when you experience attention residue and keep thinking about Task A while working on Task B, it means you have fewer cognitive resources available to perform Task B. The impact? Your performance on Task B is likely to suffer, especially if Task B is cognitively demanding.”