Vanessa Conzon
Carroll School of Management
Boston College
“Professor Vanessa Conzon stands out for the remarkable impact she has on her students. In my Organizational Behavior course at Boston College, her teaching style combined academic rigor with accessibility, transforming the way students engaged with the subject. She created a learning environment where everyone felt empowered to participate, share perspectives, and apply concepts to real-world challenges.
“Her influence extends beyond the classroom. By dedicating time to meet with students individually and in small groups, she ensured that each of us not only grasped the material but also developed confidence in our ability to succeed. This commitment to her students’ growth is rare and deeply meaningful. Professor Conzon exemplifies what it means to be an outstanding educator: she teaches with innovation, supports with empathy, and leaves a lasting mark on her students’ academic and professional paths.” – Luci de la Sierra
Vanessa Conzon, 33, has been an Assistant Professor of Management and Organization at Boston College since 2021. She has a BA (Hons) from McGill University in economics, and an SM and PhD from MIT in organization studies. She currently teaches introduction to organizational behavior.
Conzon’s research explores the relationship between workers’ autonomy and inequality, and has been published in top journals including Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Organization Science. Her work has been featured in popular outlets including Harvard Business Review and Forbes.
She has received numerous awards, including the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award and the Work Family Researchers Network’s Kathleen Christensen Dissertation Award.
BACKGROUND
At current institution since what year? 2021
Education: BA (Hons) from McGill University (economics); SM and PhD from MIT (organization studies)
List of Undergraduate courses you teach: Introduction to Organizational Behavior
TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR
I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when … I understood the value of organizational behavior. Although many people who study business plan to work in the business world, I realized the impact I could have if I taught and shared my knowledge with others.
What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? The business world is in so much turmoil–with the transition to remote work, gig work, and AI-augmented work, among many other shifts. The insights of organizational behavior can help workers and businesses navigate through challenging times. I would say the specific work I’ve done that has been most valuable has been in the area of employee autonomy. It’s generally agreed that autonomy is a good thing to foster. But in my work, I don’t take employee autonomy as a given. My work aims to problematize the notion that all workers have equal access to– and equal outcomes from– autonomy in the workplace.
If I weren’t a business school professor, I’d be … A landscape designer. I love nature and enjoy bringing it into my everyday life.
What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? My interactive style of teaching. My students know that no two days in my classroom are the same, and we are constantly doing hands-on learning. I also take a whole-person approach to teaching– in line with Boston College’s Jesuit values–which means thinking about students not just as students but as three-dimensional individuals. I also try to bring more of my whole self to the classroom– I don’t see myself just as the person who delivers the lecture.
One word that describes my first time teaching: Adrenalized
Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: You need to keep reading the news, every day, all the time! When teaching undergraduate students, their memory of what is happening in the business world is often contingent upon the events of the preceding days, weeks, or month. I had and maintain a firm understanding regarding the foundations of my field, but it takes vigilance to make sure I am up to date with how my students are interpreting and interacting with how organizational behavior relates to their lived experiences.
Professor I most admire and why: I will tweak this to “the professors I most admire and to whom I am the most grateful.” Ruthanne Huising encouraged me during my undergraduate degree to pursue a PhD and become a professor, a possibility that I would otherwise not have even known existed. I also continue to benefit tremendously from the help of my dissertation co-chairs, Erin Kelly and Susan Silbey, who are both extremely accomplished as well as generous with their time and experience.
TEACHING BUSINESS SCHOOL STUDENTS
What do you enjoy most about teaching business students? Seeing their drive and passion for changing the world, and then helping them to achieve this through the skills they learn in my class. What the change is varies, but organizational behavior skills can be a catalyst for anyone.
What is most challenging? As someone who teaches a core class to students who have many different career interests and with many different learning styles, I am constantly challenged to teach a class that engages and applies the material in the way that best fits each individual student’s needs. I am continually trying to approach this from a creative angle (e.g., custom assignments, different assignment modalities) but it is a continuous challenge, and one that I don’t think can ever be perfectly resolved!
In one word, describe your favorite type of student: Curious
In one word, describe your least favorite type of student: Presumptuous
When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as … Fair
LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
What are your hobbies? Jogging, video games, reading mystery and sci fi novels, and gardening
How will you spend your summer? Visiting family in Canada, going to conferences, and camping.
Favorite place(s) to vacation: Camping with my family in the forests of Massachusetts.
Favorite book(s): 100 Years of Solitude
What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? Severance really resonates with me! It reminds me a lot of what I research, and how management research often implicitly treats people as one-dimensional (or, to use the show’s language, we often focus on the “innie”). My students also know that I am a HUGE Survivor fan. I love the social politics!
What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? Whatever my family can collectively agree upon to listen to in the car. Currently, that’s “Everybody Scream” by Florence + the Machine.
THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS
If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this… I think many business schools have gotten away from the principles that we know are core to effective teaching, such as hands-on, practical learning. The curriculum of business schools will change over time, but we need to keep these principles at the core of how we teach, particularly for undergraduate students.
In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at … People are not just workers, but whole people. If organizations want to forward interests (their own, their employees, the world’s) in a sustainable fashion, this needs to be kept constantly in mind.
I’m grateful for … My family, friends, colleagues, mentors, students past and present, and the people that I study!
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