Owens' Research on Racial and Gender Bias Wins Best Paper Award

By Jacqueline Molik Ghosen

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Bradley Owens, assistant professor of organization and human resources in the University at Buffalo School of Management, received the Academy of Management Best Paper Award for 2011.

Owens’ research was published in the Academy of Management Journal, considered the premier journal of management research in the world.

The article, “An Examination of Whether and How Racial and Gender Biases Influence Customer Satisfaction,” demonstrated that customer ratings tend to be biased against women and racial minorities, potentially contributing to compensation inequity.

The Academy of Management’s award committee praised the study for using “novel data and strong theoretical grounding to tackle an issue of enormous practical and conceptual importance.”

“We are most pleased to welcome Professor Owens as a new faculty member in the UB School of Management,” says Dean Arjang Assad. “His impressive scholarly accomplishment complements our faculty’s well-known reputation for significant research.”

Owen shares the award with the article’s co-authors, Terence Mitchell of the University of Washington, David R. Hekman of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Karl Aquino of the University of British Columbia and Keith Leavitt and Pauline Schilpzand of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Owens and his co-authors also earned the academy’s Gender and Diversity Best Paper Award for the same article, which appeared in the 2010 journal.

Founded in 1936, the Academy of Management is the largest organization in the world devoted to management research and teaching. It has more than 19,000 members in 102 countries, including about 11,000 in the United States.

The UB School of Management is recognized for its emphasis on real-world learning, community and economic impact, and the global perspective of its faculty, students and alumni. The school has been ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek, the Financial Times, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report and The Wall Street Journal for the quality of its programs and the return on investment it provides its graduates. For more information about the UB School of Management, visit mgt.buffalo.edu.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB’s more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.