About

Cynthia E. Devers is the R. B. Pamplin Professor of Management in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. She is a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Management, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Management, and an International Research Fellow at the Centre for Corporate Reputation at the University of Oxford. Her research draws on behavioral and social psychological perspectives to examine the roles formal and informal governance mechanisms, social evaluations, and individual differences play in individual and organizational outcomes. She has previously served as an Associate Editor for the Academy of Management Review, and her work has been published in outlets including the Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Journal of Business Venturing.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Social Science
• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Political Science
• Engineering
• Public relations
• Economics
• Psychology
• Business
• Market economy
• Management
• Engineering ethics
• Knowledge management

Selected publications

• Stigmatising Events and Their Relationships to Positive Social Evaluations

  CBS Research Portal (Copenhagen Business School) · 2026-01-01

  articleSenior author
  Publisher

• Stigmatising Events and Their Relationships to Positive Social Evaluations

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2026-02-24

  book-chapterSenior author

  Abstract Social evaluations arise from stakeholders’ perceptions of organisational processes, structures, and/or outcomes. Social evaluation scholars have long focused on how positive social evaluations, such as celebrity, reputation, and status, can elicit social and financial benefits. More recent work has explored how certain negative social evaluations, such as organisational stigma, manifest in social disapproval and other social and financial penalties. Because social evaluations develop from past or current behaviours or outcomes, stakeholders tend to expect those actions to continue, and for organisations to maintain their positive or negative social evaluations. Yet, we have a limited understanding of what happens when an organisation with a positive evaluation, such as status, celebrity, or reputation, is threatened by stigma. This chapter explores the extent to which positive social evaluations shield or expose organisations from negative judgements. It contends that the effects of combinations of positive and negative evaluations are not simply additive but dependent on the nature of the specific social evaluation. The chapter explores whether and how a stigmatising event may accentuate or attenuate organisational status, celebrity, and reputation. We further provide concrete recommendations for scholars interested in studying the interrelations between stigma and positive social evaluations.

  PublisherDOI

• Who benefits from board quotas? Intersectional disparities and the moderating role of experience for women directors in India.

  Journal of Applied Psychology · 2026-04-06

  article

  Although gender quotas are gaining increasing popularity, evidence on their effectiveness is mixed. While some studies set in Western contexts suggest a positive impact on women's board representation, others demonstrate backlash. Further, because this research primarily treats women as a singular, homogenous group, it overlooks critical intersectionality issues on boards, limiting our understanding of how quotas may shape the outcomes of women directors from marginalized groups. We contribute to this growing scholarly debate on quota effectiveness by examining the outcomes of women directors from both dominant and marginalized groups. Drawing on the instrumental perspective on legitimacy and intersectionality research, we propose that although all women directors gain additional board appointments compared to men when quotas are implemented, marginalized women experience intersectional disadvantages that result in their lower appointment rates compared to dominant women. Importantly, we show that prior executive or independent director experience acts as a powerful equalizer, enabling marginalized women directors to overcome these barriers and close their opportunity gap. We test our hypotheses in the context of India's gender quota policy using archival data on all men and women directors from dominant and marginalized groups (i.e., gender and religion or caste) serving on the boards of the National Stock Exchange (NSE)1500-listed firms from 2013 to 2017 and shed light on the underlying mechanisms using qualitative insights from 37 interviews with directors. Our mixed-methods field data capture real-world board dynamics and maximize ecological validity to provide critical policy implications. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• And How Exactly Are You Measuring That?

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2025-07-01

  article

  Recent works have expressed concern that concepts and constructs in management are not being assessed properly in research studies (Lambert & Newman, 2023; Podsakoff, MacKenzie, & Podsakoff, 2016). Lack of proper construct definition may lead to incorrect distinction between constructs and inadequate operationalization (Podsakoff et al., 2016) that can then lead to incorrect findings (see Ketchen, Ireland, & Baker, 2012) even for otherwise well-designed studies. It is argued then that researchers should place increased concern and focus on the definitions and operationalizations of their constructs to provide more accurate tests of their theories. The four presentations included in this presenter symposium all place an increased focus on the measurement of their focal constructs or provide important lenses to consider when attempting to conceptualize and operationalize their constructs. Three of the included presentations cover empirical results of attempts to better assess micro, macro, and meso construct domains. The fourth presentation provides a theoretical lens via analogy to attempt to aid researchers in their thinking about constructs and construct operationalization. The work represented in this presenter symposium then works to answer the call for better construct conceptualization measurement by management researchers. Well known methods scholar, Justin DeSimone, will provide his expert commentary regarding the advancements provided by the presenters. Lasso The Tornado: New Measures of Attribute Reputation, Prominence, And Social Approval Author: Owen Nelson Parker; The University of Texas at Arlington Author: Lisa Schurer Lambert; Oklahoma State University Author: Cynthia E. Devers; Objective And Subjective Measures: An Analysis of Distributive Justice in New Ventures Author: Marjana Subotic; KU Leuven Measuring the Multiplex Latent Network Ties Impacting Employee Outcomes: Validating a Dynamic ... Author: Nicholas Rosemarino; Teachers College of Columbia University Author: James D. Westaby; Teachers College of Columbia University Measurement Deficiency in the Organizational Sciences: Building Better Theory About the Construct... Author: Jeremy Lee Schoen; Tennessee Technological University

  PublisherDOI

• Aligning the Stars: How Technology Committees and Relevant Resources Drive Firm Innovation

  Journal of Management · 2025-04-20 · 1 citations

  article

  While many boards adopt technology committees to support firm innovation, the impact of such committees is largely unexplored. We draw on agency and resource dependence theories to suggest that technology committees can improve firm innovation (patenting and new product introductions). We further hypothesize that relevant committee expertise (technology and executive expertise) enhances the effectiveness of the committee, and that the benefit of committee expertise is strengthened when coupled with financial resource provision. Our results support our theorizing about the impact of technology committees—they positively impact new product introductions, although they had no impact on patenting. We also found that committee expertise enhances committee effectiveness, but only when accompanied by greater financial resources. We discuss the implications of optional board structures, such as technology committees and their composition, on firm innovation.

  PublisherDOI

• Gender as a Social Status, and Its Intersection with Other Status-Laden Categories

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2025-07-01

  articleSenior author

  Considering the intersection of gender as a social status and other status-laden categories, this symposium aims to foster a nuanced discussion of the implications for DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) in practice. Current approaches to intersectionality often focus on the double exclusion of women from marginalized groups, rather than on the nuanced outcomes stemming from the status characteristics of social categories. As a result, the conditions that influence the effectiveness and support for DEI practices in organizations remain unclear. Considering the intricate relationships between different social statuses and gender can help us better explain individual- and organizational-level outcomes. Thus, this symposium aims to advance the discussion of the real-world workplace consequences of intersectionality stemming from a status hierarchy of social categories. How Organizational Silence Shapes Support for Diversity Policies among Male Employees Author: Lena Floegel; EBS University of Business and Law Author: Meir Shemla; EBS University of Business and Law Author: Hodar Lam; Lingnan University Gender, Firm Performance, and CEO Compensation: Unpacking the Pay Disparity Author: Heewon Chae; Arizona State University Author: Wookyung Lee; Arizona State University Author: Peggy M. Lee; Arizona State University Class, Gender, and Intersectional Identity Work of Lower-Class Women at Work Author: Yumna Arif; University of Warwick Author: Innan Sasaki; University of Warwick Author: Tina Kiefer; How Gender Quota Enables Marginalized Women Directors' Access to Multiple Corporate Boards in India Author: Priyanka Dwivedi; Texas A&M University Author: Yashodhara Basuthakur; Mays Business School, Texas A&M University Author: Cynthia E. Devers;

  PublisherDOI

• From Quantifying to Qualifying: Uncovering the Hidden Patterns in Executives’ Strategic Attention

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2025-07-01

  articleSenior author

  Scholars have recently begun examining the effect of executives’ strategic attention on firm performance by measuring their strategic attention breadth, which is the number of strategic issues executives are attentive to. While this has led to some interesting insights, this measure only reveals how many, and not what strategic issues executives focus on. Departing from the notion that emphasis on any strategic issue has an equivalent effect on the firm, we propose a complementary measure that captures the different patterns of executives’ attention to various strategic issues. Given that strategic actions are an outcome of executives’ focus of attention, we contend that the addition of a measure that identifies the specific issues executives focus on will explain more variance in firm performance than strategic attention breadth alone. Using CEO comments made during earnings calls between 2007 and 2019, we identify 5 strategic attention profiles through a latent profile analysis. We then test the differential effect each strategic attention profile has on the firm to note if an emphasis on specific issues or patterns is beneficial. These insights help CEOs in altering their strategic attention for better performance.

  PublisherDOI

• I See Through Your Sweet Words: Ingratiation and its Effect on Female CEOs’ Strategic Behavior

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2025-07-01

  articleSenior author

  Scholars have recently examined the adverse effects of top managers’ ingratiation on CEOs’ strategic behavior. However, these studies assume that ingratiation affects the strategic decisions of male and female CEOs alike. Therefore, we investigate whether top managers’ ingratiation differentially affects male and female CEOs’ strategic behavior through CEO overconfidence. We theorize that female CEOs cast a broader net while processing information and seek contrasting opinions from alternate sources in the absence of such inputs from the ingratiating manager. This prevents them from overestimating their own abilities and eliminates the downstream effects of ingratiation on their strategic decisions. Using conference call transcripts of S&P 1500 firms from 2007 to 2019, we measure top managers’ ingratiatory behavior through language style matching (LSM). We expect to find that female CEOs’ strategic decisions are less likely to be influenced by top manager’s ingratiation compared to male CEOs’. By testing the mediating role of CEO overconfidence, we also attempt to show that such a differential effect could be due to male and female CEOs’ relative ability to not overestimate themselves based on a top manager’s opinion conformity.

  PublisherDOI

• Taking a Broader View: Female Directors, CEO Strategic Attention Breadth, and Firm Performance

  Organization Science · 2024-08-13 · 19 citations

  article

  Existing research has shown that greater female membership on the board of directors has the potential to positively impact firm financial performance. However, the specific cognitive means through which these gender effects manifest remains unexplained. Our study sheds light on these cognitive means by examining how female board membership can influence chief executive officers (CEOs)’ attention allocation. We integrate the literatures on upper echelons, strategic attention, and gender-based information processing research and argue that because women tend to exhibit broader and more comprehensive information search and processing than men, female directors, through their interactions with CEOs and service on boards, will bring broader insights and perspectives to the boards than male directors. Further, we propose the relationship between the number of female directors and CEO strategic attention breadth is conditioned by three CEO characteristics that can exert influence on CEO-board information exchange: CEO gender, tenure, and overpayment. Specifically, we propose that boards comprised of more women will exert a greater effect on the strategic attention breadth of male CEOs and CEOs with longer tenure but will have a smaller effect on the strategic attention breadth of CEOs who are overpaid. Finally, we propose that CEO attention breadth mediates the relationship between the number of female directors and firm performance. We test our arguments using a sample of S&P 1500 firms and find broad support for our theorizing. Our study makes several key contributions to upper echelons and corporate governance, gender-based information processing, and executive attention research. Funding: Part of the data collection is funded by Dean’s Summer Small Research Grant at Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh.

  PublisherDOI

• Entrepreneurial Hype Among Early Employees: A Theory-Based Approach to Hype

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2024-07-09

  article

  Stakeholders play a pivotal role in supporting new ventures by providing essential financial resources, distribution channels, and human capital. Entrepreneurial hype, one of the fastest-growing research phenomena in literature, defined as a collective vision and promise of future potential, is routinely leveraged in new ventures for stakeholder enrollment. While existing research extensively explored the impact of hype on external stakeholders like investors and customers, a vital stakeholder group, early employees remained relatively understudied. In this study, we posit that hype possesses a unique appeal to early employees, distinct from other stakeholders. Early employees may be attracted to the new ventures through the hype created around leadership, culture, product and career utility. However, they may subsequently experience a gap between the perceived hype and the actual reality. To address this, our study employs psychological contract breach (PCB) theory to investigate the impact of unrealized hype on early employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Furthermore, we differentiate the effects of unrealized hype between two distinct groups of early employees: those who wish to (1) become future founders, and (2) joiners, those individuals who prefer working at startups but possess no future intention to become a founder. Our study contributes to the literatures of hype and entrepreneurship by explaining the role of hype among early employees and by applying PCB theory to early employees to examine the effects of unfulfilled expectations.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Gerry McNamara

  Michigan State University

  35 shared

• Jerayr Haleblian

  13 shared

• Daniel Gamache

  University of Georgia

  10 shared

• Robert M. Wiseman

  9 shared

• R. Michael Holmes

  Florida State University

  8 shared

• Roy Suddaby

  Washington State University

  7 shared

• Felice Klein

  Boise State University

  7 shared

• R. Mark Greenwood

  7 shared

Awards & honors

• Board of Governors, Academy of Management
• Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Management
• International Research Fellow at the Centre for Corporate Re…