Faculty Directory

Raquel Kessinger’s research uses qualitative methods to explore the changing nature of work through the lenses of employee voice, social movements and organizations, and relationships at work. She explores how factors such as a polarized political climate, pressure for companies to grow, and new technologies are reshaping how employees interact with their managers. Specifically, she considers the social, political, and moral issues prompting employee activists to press their firms to change, how employee activists mobilize for collective action or engage in noisy exits, how they interpret managerial responses to activism, and how they build lasting capacity across movements and organizations. She also examines how new performance management technologies are reshaping the role of middle managers in organizations.

Kessinger holds a Ph.D. in Management and an MS in Management Research from MIT. Prior to MIT, she attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and earned an MBA with concentrations in Organizational Effectiveness, Operations, and Multinational Management. During her two summers at Wharton, she worked at Spanx on the People Team and as a summer consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Before business school, she worked at the Central Intelligence Agency for more than five years as a terrorism and security analyst and at Gerson Lehrman Group as a research associate for hedge fund and private equity clients. She attended Vanderbilt University for her undergraduate studies, majoring in Political Science and Spanish, and minoring in Corporate Strategy.