Current PhD Students

Steven Zhou

Leadership, psychometrics, education, academic-practitioner gap

Steven Zhou completed his Ph.D. in Industrial & Organizational Psychology from George Mason University, studying under Dr. Stephen Zaccaro and Dr. Philseok Lee. He previously received a B.A. in Industrial & Organizational Psychology and M.A. in Religion from Pepperdine University. He also has four years of full-time applied work experience in human resources, data analytics, and non-profit management along with consulting experience in leadership development and data analysis.

Steven's research centers around leadership, personality, psychometrics, careers and the academic-practitioner gap. He is currently working on projects in new methods of conceptualizing and measuring leadership behavior, multidimensional forced choice (MFC) methods of measuring personality, the Chief of Staff role in businesses, the use of GPT for leadership ratings, and new conceptualizations of calling in careers. He has won several teaching and research awards from Mason, the American Psychological Association, the Society for I-O Psychology, and the International Leadership Association, and his research as a graduate student brought in over $35,000 in external grant funding. Finally, he served as the 2021-2022 President of Mason's Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA) and a 2022-2023 Graduate Assistant in the Office of the Provost for Graduate Education. Outside of Mason, Steven is on the Board of Directors for Project SHORT, a national non-profit dedicated to supporting underserved students by providing pro bono mentoring for graduate school applications.

Selected Publications

Zhou, S., Campbell, L. N. P., & Fyffe, S. (in press). Quantifying the academic-practitioner gap: How do small business owners react to academic articles? [Focal article] Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice.

Zhou, S., Cheng, V., & Lee, P. (2024). What are you comparing it to? Investigating order effects in presentation of multidimensional forced choice personality items. Personality and Individual Differences, 222, 112581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2024.112581

Zhou, S., Aitken, J., & Kuykendall, L. (2023). Callings can take different shapes: Scope, proximity, and duration as new complexifications of calling. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Early View. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12459

Zhou, S., & Kodama Muscente, K. (2022). Meta-analysis of volunteer motives using the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) to explain volunteer satisfaction, commitment, and behavior. Nonprofit and Volunteer Sector Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/08997640221129540

Zhou, S. (2022). Science communication: Eight perils, but one pearl to make it all worth it [commentary]. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 15(2), 289-293. https://doi.org/10.1017/iop.2022.2

Courses Taught

PSYC 300: Statistics in Psychology
PSYC 320: Psychological Tests and Measurements
PSYC 379: Applied Cross-Cultural Psychology
MGMT 313: Organizational Behavior (Writing TA)
PSYC 601: Applied Data Analytics I (Online GTA)
PSYC 603: Research Methods (Online GTA)
PSYC 616: Selection (Online GTA)
PSYC 792: Practicum (Online GTA)

Education

B.A. Industrial & Organizational Psychology, summa cum laude | Pepperdine University
M.A. Religion | Pepperdine University
Ph.D. Industrial-Organizational Psychology | George Mason University

Recent Presentations

Zhou, S., Gallagher, K. R., Feitosa, J., Courey, K., Chu, C., Olenick, J., & Phetmisy, C. (2024, April 17-20). Award: Best of SIOP [IGNITE]. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, United States.

Zhou, S. (2024, April 17-20). Who are we helping? The impracticality of work-life initiatives for lower-SES employees. In D. Van Egdom (Chair) & E. Kossek (Discussant), They matter too: Examining underserved populations in work-life policy research [Symposium]. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, United States.

Zhou, S. (Co-Chair), McCauley, R.a (Co-Chair), Fletcher, K., Grabarek, P., Islam, S., Kath, L., Nelson, K., Rogelberg, S., Sawyer, K. Wiese, C., Yost, P., & Morel, J. (2024, April 17-20). Speaking up for your research: How to communicate your findings to a broad audience [Alternative Session]. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, United States.

Zhou, S. (2023, February 23-25). Faculty perceptions on science communication: Reactions to academic articles cited in popular press outlets [Poster]. Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, United States.

Zhou, S. (2023, February 23-25). Using Tableau for data visualization in the psychological sciences [Professional development workshop]. Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, United States.

Zhou, S. (2022, October 20-22). Writing an op-ed: A workshop on teaching psychology students to write for public audiences, not for researchers [Conference presentation]. Society for the Teaching of Psychology Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.

In the Media

Zhou, S. (2023, August 28). What’s in a calling? Healthy Work Podcast. Retrieved from https://www.audacy.com/podcast/healthy-work-eb0a8/episodes/whats-in-a-calling-55d09

Zhou, S. (2022, August 11). Three roadblocks in academia that limit science communication. Heterodox: The Blog. Retrieved from https://heterodoxacademy.org/blog/three-roadblocks-in-academia-that-limit-science-communication

Zhou, S. (2022, February 25). The academic bait-and-switch: Do professors make good administrators? The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. Retrieved from https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2022/02/the-academic-bait-and-switch-do-professors-make-good-administrators

Zhou, S. (2021, November 17). Are students learning the right skills? Why academia needs to go back to the "basics". The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. Retrieved from https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2021/11/are-students-learning-the-right-skills-why-academia-needs-to-go-back-to-the-basics

Zhou, S. (2021, November 16). Failure isn't really failure: What academia can learn from start-up culture. Heterodox: The Blog. Retrieved from https://heterodoxacademy.org/blog/failure-isnt-really-failure-what-academia-can-learn-from-start-up-culture

Zhou, S. (2021, June 7). 3 warning signs to consider before using a personality test. Fast Company. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/90643890/3-warnings-signs-to-consider-before-using-a-personality-test

Zhou, S. (2019, June 24). What psychology offers Christians amid political polarization. Christianity Today. Retrieved from https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/june-web-only/psychology-offers-christians-amid-political-polarization.html