Samantha N. Smith, Ph.D.
About
I received my Ph.D. in Micro-Organizational Behavior from Harvard Business School in 2026, advised by Kathleen McGinn, Lakshmi Ramarajan, and Jeffrey Polzer. I am now publishing research from my dissertation and will be on the academic job market in 2027. Alongside my work, I designed and teach Harnessing Employee Talent: The Diversity Advantage, a course for HR leaders in the Management Master’s Program at Harvard Extension School.
I earned an A.B. in Psychology from Princeton University, with minors in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, and wrote my honors thesis with Ken Norman. I then spent two years as a Behavioral Research Fellow at the Kellogg School of Management.
During my Ph.D., I was the inaugural Ph.D. Research Fellow at ghSMART, a leadership advisory firm. I analyzed executive assessments from its archive of more than 30,000 and identified predictors of CEO selection, work published in Harvard Business Review. I also worked in human capital at Apollo Global Management, where I redesigned how the firm assesses partner candidates.
Research
I study how people get ahead when they are unlike those around them.
Organizations run on similarity. People gravitate toward others like them, leaders vouch for those who feel like “one of us,” and organizations respond to the differences they track. My research examines the people outside that pattern: when they choose to stand apart, what they build when they have no choice, and whether others can see what it took.
I pursue these questions in three streams, addressing how:
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- incentive structures shape whether people choose to be the only one like them in a group.
- background shapes who advances to senior leadership, and what the path costs along the way.
- evaluators and organizations recognize, or overlook, talent that arrives without an advocate.
My work has appeared in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Academy of Management Proceedings, and Harvard Business Review. I have presented or lectured at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Law School, INSEAD, Academy of Management, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, and the United Nations, as well as at corporate engagements.
Beyond Research
Outside of work, I have served on advisory boards that expand access to opportunity, a commitment that also informs my research. First Tee – Silicon Valley • Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation • Chronic Disease Coalition