Lawrence Houston III

Current Research

Professor Houston is currently examining who promotes diversity at work, how employees develop the confidence and necessary skills to effectively manage a group of diverse employees, what onboarding strategies are most effective for managing diversity, and when organizations are most likely to motivate employees of all backgrounds to voice their ideas and concerns. He seeks to achieve these objectives and translate research findings into actionable recommendations through collaboration with industry and community partners.

If you are an employer interested in partnering in future research collaborations or an employee interested in hearing about opportunities to participate in research, email Professor Houston at Lawrence.Houston@rutgers.edu.

Lawrence Houston III is an Assistant Professor of Human Resource Management in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He earned his B.A. in psychology and philosophy from the University of Memphis, and his PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology (with a minor in Business Management) from Pennsylvania State University. 

Lawrence teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on HR Analytics and Multivariate Analysis. His research seeks to understand the ways that employees build and maintain positive, rewarding relationships at work, including customer-employee, coworker-coworker, and leader-follower relationships. To address this goal, his current work focuses on issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion, organizational leadership, new employee onboarding, and professional image (and identity) management. His research on these topics have been published in high-impact journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Journal of Management, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes and the Journal of Organizational Behavior. His research also has been featured in popular media outlets such as BBC News, NY Post, Miami Herald, The Conversation, Newsweek.com, Wharton Business Radio, CBC Radio, and Oregon Public Broadcasting (Think Out Loud).