Lauren Zervos

Lauren finished her PhD in I-O Psychology in 2022 with her dissertation was entitled “Social Identity Threat: Implications for Coachability”

AMBER COTTON

Amber Cotton received the APS 2020 Psychological Science and Entrepreneurship Award for her research on how Black female entrepreneurs maintain work-life boundaries and balance.

Here is an excerpt from an interview on her research:

Black Female Entrepreneurs Maintain Work-Life Boundaries and Balance

Amber S. Rouse and Alice F. Stuhlmacher (DePaul University)

Individuals turn to entrepreneurship for many reasons and have different approaches to managing their boundaries between their work and family lives. Rouse and Stuhlmacher found that black female entrepreneurs clustered into five distinct boundary management profiles. These profiles influenced reported family balance effectiveness and career satisfaction, but not family balance satisfaction and life satisfaction.

What drew you to this research?

I entered into graduate school with a desire to study and conduct research in the area of work and family. I have always been interested in understanding how work and family intersect. Once I began studying the topic, I noticed that very limited research exists that focused on the experiences of nontraditional workers (e.g., those who decide to pursue entrepreneurship) and ethnic minorities. So I decided to combine these two areas by focusing on how Black female entrepreneurs manage the boundaries between their work and family lives.

What did the research reveal that you didn’t already know?

One of the key findings of my research revealed that although Black female entrepreneurs in this sample reported being generally satisfied with their work-family balance, Black female entrepreneurs also cited significant barriers in obtaining necessary resources for their businesses including limited funding, training, and education on entrepreneurship. This suggests that more can and may need to be done to assist these women as they journey into entrepreneurship.

What are your plans going forward?

My plans are to continue pursuing research in this area to help broaden our understanding of the unique experiences of minority entrepreneurs. I would also like to offer training and consultation services to minority entrepreneurs to assist them in developing skills to effectively manage both their work and family lives.