Rong Su
Introduction
Dr. Rong Su is an Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship and the Mahoney Fellow at the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business. She is a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and one of the five inaugural recipients of the Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Award. An organizational and quantitative psychologist, Dr. Su’s research focuses on individual differences, person-environment fit, career success and career gaps, and quantitative research methods (in particular, meta-analysis, psychometric measurement, structural equation modeling, and large-scale data analytics). Her publications have appeared in top-tier journals including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Management, Psychological Bulletin, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. They have been broadly cited, placing her within top 2% most impactful scientists within her subfield each year since 2021. Her work has garnered over $1.9 million in grants to date from funding organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and has been featured by national and international media outlets including Time and The New York Times.
Beyond her own research, Dr. Su currently serves the field as an Associate Editor for Psychological Bulletin, a high-impact journal in the field of psychology for publishing systematic research syntheses and reviews (impact factor = 17.3), and an editorial board member for the Journal of Applied Psychology and Psychological Science. She has provided research consultation for a number of organizations, including the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Army, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Current Positions
- Mahoney Fellow, Management and Entrepreneurship
- Associate Professor, Management and Entrepreneurship
Education
- PhD in Organizational Psychology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Research Interests
- individual differences
- person-environment fit
- career success and career gaps
- quantitative research methods (in particular, meta-analysis, psychometric measurement, structural equation modeling, and large-scale data analytics)
Selected Awards & Honors
- Fellow - Society for Organizational and Industrial Psychology (SIOP), 2024
- World's Top 2% Most Impactful Scientists within Academic Subfield, 2023 - 2024
- David and Lois Gardner Faculty Award for Mid-Career Excellence - Tippie College of Business, 2023
- Professional Development Award - University of Iowa, 2023
- World's Top 2% Most Impactful Scientists within Academic Subfield, 2022
- Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Award - University of Iowa, 2022 - 2025
- Finalist, Student Supervisor of the Year Award - Pomerantz Career Center, University of Iowa, 2022
- World's Top 2% Most Impactful Scientists within Academic Subfield, 2021
- Faculty/Staff Member Making Positive Difference in the Life of a Graduating Senior - University of Iowa, 2021
- Faculty/Staff Member Making Positive Difference in the Life of a Graduating Senior - University of Iowa, 2020
Selected Publications
- Van Iddekinge, C., Harrison, J., Su, R., & Ployhart, R. (In Press). (2025). Do The People Still Make The Place? A 40-Year Review of Research on ASA Theory. Journal of Management. DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/ntfsg_v1.
- Kristof-Brown, A., Schneider, B., & Su, R. (2023). Person-Organization Fit Theory and Research: Conundrums, Conclusions, and Calls to Action. Personnel Psychology. DOI: 10.1111/peps.12581.
- Liao, H., Su, R., Ptashnik, T., & Nielsen, J. (2022). Feeling good, doing good, and getting ahead: A meta-analytic investigation of the outcomes of prosocial motivation at work. Psychological Bulletin. 148 (3-4) pp. 158-198. DOI: 10.1037/bul0000362.
- Jones, K. S., Newman, D. A., Su, R., & Rounds, J. (2022). Vocational interests and adverse impact: How attraction and selection on vocational interests relate to adverse impact potential. Journal of Applied Psychology. 107 (4) pp. 604-627. DOI: 10.1037/apl0000893.
- Su, R. (2020). The three faces of interests: An integrative review of interest research in vocational, organizational, and educational psychology. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 116 pp. Part B, 10.
- Su, R., Zhang, Q., Liu, Y., & Tay, L. (2019). Modeling congruence in organizational research with latent moderated structural equations. Journal of Applied Psychology. 104 (11) pp. 1404-1433. DOI: 10.1037/apl0000411.
- Su, R., Tay, L., Liao, H., Zhang, Q., & Rounds, J. (2019). Toward a dimensional model of vocational interests. Journal of Applied Psychology. 104 (5) pp. 690-714.
- Kossek, E. E., Su, R., & Wu, L. (2017). “Opting out” or “pushed out”? Integrating perspectives on women’s career equality for gender inclusion and interventions. Journal of Management. 43 (1) pp. 228-254.
- Roberts, B. W., Luo, J., Briley, D. A., Chow, P. I., Su, R., & Hill, P. L. (2017). A systematic review of personality trait change through intervention. Psychological Bulletin. 143 (2) pp. 117-141.
- Damian, R. I., Su, R., Shanahan, M., Trautwein, U., & Roberts, B. W. (2015). Can personality traits and intelligence compensate for background disadvantage? Predicting status attainment in adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 109 (3) pp. 473-489.
Selected Presentations
- "Developing measures for your dissertation," Panelist at Consortium for the Advancement of Research Methods and Analysis (CARMA), January 2025. (With Lisa Lambert, David Scheaf)
- "Underemployment and personality change: A 16-year longitudinal study," Accepted Speaker at Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, August 2024. (With Jing Luo, Riley Cooney)
- "Ever used O*NET? A Primer on O*NET for management research," Panelist at Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, August 2024. (With Gavin Williamson (Co-Chair), Emily Campion (Co-Chair), Chad H. Van Iddekinge (Panelist), Timothy P. Munyon (Panelist))
- "Methodological considerations in the implementation of polynomial regression analysis," Guest/Invited Speaker at Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, August 2024.
- "A meta-analysis of employee gender on employee voice and managerial endorsement," Accepted Speaker at Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, August 2024. (With Ah Jung Kim, Nathan A. Black, Daniel W. Newton)
- "Reprioritizing goals in reaction to success: Longitudinal reciprocal relationships between career success and agentic and communal goal importance," Accepted Speaker at Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, August 2024. (With Thomas Ptashnik, Wendong Li)
- "Underemployment and personality change: Insights from two national longitudinal studies," Guest/Invited Speaker at Michigan State University, April 2024.
- "Gender differences in people- and things-oriented interests," Guest/Invited Speaker at Northwestern University, April 2024.
- "Finding and securing external funding: A discussion with the experts," Panelist at Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, April 2024. (With Lindsey M. Greco (Co-Chair), Yifan Song (Co-Chair), Margaret E. Beier (Panelist), Louis Tay (Panelist), Jack Goodman (Panelist))
- "Navigating the publishing process at top management journals: A conversation with editors, reviewers, and productive scholars," Panelist at International Association for Chinese Management Research Biennial Conference, Hong Kong, June 2023.
Selected Grants & Contracts
- Su, R. (Principal Investigator), Principal Investigator(s): Su, R. and Zhao, K. Understanding gender gaps in academic science through the lens of topic fit: An interdisciplinary investigation using a big data approach. National Science Foundation (NSF). Funded. August 2022 - August 2025.
- Su, R. (Principal Investigator), Principal Investigator(s): Su, R. and Zhao, K. 2021 Tippie Research Excellence Grant. Tippie College of Business. Completed. May 2021 - August 2022.
- Su, R. (Principal Investigator). 2019 Tippie Research Excellence Grant. Tippie College of Business. Completed. August 2019 - August 2020.
- Su, R. (Senior Personnel), Principal Investigator(s): Kregel, K. Path to Distinction: Faculty Diversity Recruitment Pilot Program. University of Iowa. Completed. January 2019 - December 2020.
- Su, R. (Principal Investigator). Development and validation of workforce readiness assessments. Educational Testing Service (ETS). Completed. August 2014 - August 2015.
- Su, R. (Senior Personnel), Principal Investigator(s): Diener, E. Measurement of Flourishing. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Completed. July 2012 - July 2013.
- Su, R. (Co-Investigator), Principal Investigator(s): Rounds, J. Development of the O*NET Interest Profiler Short Form. United States Department of Labor. Completed. January 2009 - December 2010.
- Su, R. (Principal Investigator). 2008 Robert P. Larsen Grant for Research in Career Development. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Completed. April 2008 - March 2009.
Editorial & Review Activities
- Editorial Board Member, Psychological Science, April 2024.
- Editorial Board Member, Journal of Applied Psychology, January 2024 - December 2026.
- Associate Editor, Psychological Bulletin, January 2020 - December 2026.
- Editorial Board Member, Journal of Counseling Psychology, January 2013 - January 2017.