Vivian Xiao
Assistant Professor
Dr. Vivian Xiao's work focuses on issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and how workers and organizations navigate the changing environment of the modern era. Her work examines both how the increasing amount of racial diversity in the U.S. workforce complicates workers' experiences and outcomes such as leader evaluation and selection, and how organizations themselves navigate this changing environment to engage in practices that can either help or hinder DEI. Her work has been published in leading disciplinary outlets such as Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin and Journal of Experimental Social Psychology and has been recognized by awards from Academy of Management.
Dr. Xiao received her Ph.D. in Business Administration (Organizational Behavior) from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2022 and joined the faculty at UW Bothell’s School of Business in 2024. Prior to her appointment at UW Bothell, she held positions as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management and a Lecturer at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business.
She currently teaches the undergrad course Organizational Behavior, Inclusivity, & Ethics. As a part of this course, students engage in a quarter-long research project that challenges them to apply course concepts to the real world, collect and analyze data on real organizations, and offer evidence-based solutions to organizational issues they identify.
Education
Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior
Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2022
B.A. in Psychology
Rice University, 2016
Courses
- BBUS 300 Organizational Behavior, Ethics, and Inclusivity – Undergraduate
Research and Scholarship Interests
Diversity, equity, and inclusion; Race, gender, and intersectionality; Leadership; Backlash; The future of work
University of Washington Bothell School of Business
Assistant Professor – Management and Organization – 2024–present
Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business
Lecturer – Management – 2023–2024
Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management
Postdoctoral Fellow – Organization Studies – 2022–2024
Academic Service
- Behavioral Lab Committee — Member — 2025–present
- Ceremonies & Honors Advisory Committee — Member — 2025, 2026
- Scholarship Selection Committee — Member — 2024
- Faculty Seminar Series — Organizer — 2024–present
- Xiao, V. L., & Lowery, B. S. (2024). Who are You to Me?: A Relational Approach to Examining Race-Gender Associations. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 110, 104562. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104562
- Xiao, V. L., Lowery, B. S., & Stillwell, A. (2023). Gender Backlash and the Moderating Role of Shared Racial Group Membership. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 49(4), 544–570. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672221074543
- Xiao, V.L. (forthcoming). Gender and Workplace Inclusion. In King, E., Hebl, M.R., & Brown, D. (Eds.), Oxford Handbook on Inclusion. Oxford University Press.
- Xiao, V. L. (2022). Deliberate Inclusion: Considering Underrepresented Perspectives in Psychology. In King, E., Roberson, Q. M., & Hebl, M. R. (Eds.), Research on Social Issues in Management (Vol. The Future of Diversity & Inclusion, pp. 351–373). Information Age Publishing.
- Xiao, V. L. (2022). Gender, Race, and Intersectionality in the Workplace. In Gurung, R. A. R. (Ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Psychology in the Real World. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367198459-REPRW208-1
- Best Paper Based on a Dissertation, DEI Division, Academy of Management — 2023
- Best Symposium, OB Division, Academy of Management — 2021
- Student Research Award Honorable Mention, Association for Psychological Science — 2018
- Distinction in Research and Creative Work, Rice University — 2016