Professor Jenny Hoobler of the Department of Human Resource Management in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at UP has been elected as a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP).

The election recognises her impactful scholarship, sterling service to the industrial and organisational psychology (IOP) profession, as well as her significant contribution to teaching and research in this area.

The SIOP is the premier professional association for the science and practice of IOP. It represents Division 14 of the American Psychological Association and is an organisational affiliate of the Association for Psychological Science.

Prof Hoobler is an acclaimed gender researcher in the IOP field. Her research focuses on gender and diversity in organisations, work and family intersections, and abusive supervision in the workplace. Through her research and findings, she has brought pertinent gender issues to the fore and subsequently advocated for women’s leadership in organisations.

“Jenny’s work found that women’s supervisors perceived them to have high work-family conflict, which translated into lower ratings of women’s promotion potential, even when the women themselves did not report this conflict. This is a powerful finding, which has important practical implications by suggesting bosses’ perceptions of women’s work-family conflict as a target of influence to foster women’s career success. Her work suggests that, if we can address the (often mistaken) assumptions that supervisors have about women’s work-family conflict, we may be able to reduce an important barrier to women’s career progression,” reads her nomination letter.

She believes being a SIOP Fellow will elevate the impact of her research in society. “I feel being a Fellow brings distinction to the research I've been doing on gender and diversity in organisations over the years. It sends a clear message that SIOP values research that exposes social problems and promotes equality in organisations,” says Prof Hoobler.

For her research excellence and valuable research contributions, she has been invited to serve on the editorial boards of top international journals. She was appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Applied Psychology in January 2020 as an Associate Editor of the journal, responsible for moulding the science of industrial psychology internationally.

A distinguished researcher with publications in highly ranked international journals, Prof Hoobler’s research has been cited more than 5000 times and she has an h-index of 26.

Prof Hoobler’s scholarly contribution has promoted gender parity in the workplace in a quest to ensure women are not unfairly disadvantaged in the workplace. “She has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the barriers facing women and underrepresented minorities in an effort to promote equity in organisations,” reads one of the supporting nomination letters.

Her passion for her research and excellence has been fueled by other female researchers who carved the way for her, she says.

“I've had the great fortune to be inspired by certain female scholars over the years who have blazed a trail before me, those such as Prof Stella Nkomo, whose work on race and gender paved the way for the next generation of scholars like myself. Prof Nkomo and others opened the door for research on gender and diversity in organisations so that we felt welcomed doing this type of research in the management discipline,” says Prof Hoobler.

Her nomination was supported by six leading researchers from across the globe, attesting to the significance of her research and its impact on the IOP profession. She expressed her delight over her election as a SIOP Fellow. “I feel honoured to be named amongst a group of scholars from across the globe whose research contributions in applied psychology I respect very much.”

Prof Hoobler will be honoured at the SIOP 2022 meetings in Seattle, Washington, USA in April 2022.