Exploring workplace well-being: Industrial-organizational psychology grad student combines research with Butler Center role

Written By: Rebecca Hoffa, rhoffa@purdue.edu

Years before she began studying workplace well-being in Purdue University’s College of Health and Human Sciences, Emma Showalter, a PhD student in the Department of Psychological Sciences’ industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology program, was paying close attention to the work experiences of the people around her — her family members, her coworkers, the people she encountered working in human resources between her bachelor’s degree and doctoral studies, her friends and more.

Watching some of these individuals navigate demanding careers and struggle to achieve work-life balance sparked a deepened interest in understanding how work shapes people’s lives, an interest that now guides her doctoral research at Purdue.

“My interest deepened through my experience working full-time after graduating with my bachelor’s degree gathering employee sentiment data and understanding the types of things people are struggling with,” Showalter said. “But it originated with the experiences of my family and friends. I think even as a kid, seeing how our parents and our siblings experience working can really impact us and shape our own view of what work is like. Do we think it’s just something where we go get a paycheck, or should we derive a little bit more meaning from it? I really soaked in those experiences of people around me, and I’d say my interest in wanting a balanced life and relationship with work stems from that and wanting to help my family and friends.”

Showalter’s research focuses on people’s relationships with work, with many of her projects looking at judgment and decision-making as well as gender and inequality in the workplace. While Showalter began her graduate studies in the Daniels School of Business, she explained returning to the Department of Psychological Sciences — where she completed her bachelor’s degree — provided her with the academic experience she had valued as an undergraduate. Showalter has already gotten the chance to work with several faculty in the department to elevate her research knowledge as a graduate student. She also serves as president of the Purdue Association for Graduate Students in Industrial Psychology.

“I’m interested in studying healthy work/non-work boundaries and work not taking up your entire identity,” Showalter said. “The I-O community here at Purdue really embraces a broader, more multifaceted conception of success and how we impact society. That really draws me toward it. I think finding a program you fit really well with and an advisor you fit really well with is the most important thing for grad students.”

With Sang Eun Woo, professor of psychological sciences and director of the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence, as her advisor, Showalter also has been able to enhance her doctoral experience as the education and public outreach doctoral student associate for the Butler Center. In this role, Showalter is responsible for providing accessible resources to the public, primarily distributed through social media and direct outreach, as well as assisting with events, such as the center’s 2027 Leadership Conference.

“The reason why I got involved in the Butler Center was because a big interest of mine is bringing research into practice,” Showalter said. “The Butler Center focuses on leadership excellence broadly but also women as leaders or leaders in higher education. And it’s not just for an academic audience. We, of course, want everybody to know this information. So, I am happy to be involved for many reasons, but that’s a top one.”

Showalter noted being able to engage with the Butler Center has been influential to her work in seeing examples of positive, healthy leadership demonstrated throughout not just the center’s external-facing engagement but also the internal composition of the center.

“One of my favorite things about the Butler Center is it really practices what it preaches,” Showalter said. “It’s super easy for organizations or centers to talk about the importance of a healthy, supportive, positive workplace, but actually creating that environment day-to-day is something entirely different. I’ve really appreciated that the Butler Center lives those values in how we work together. On top of that, I feel that I have a lot of freedom to be creative and have really felt incredibly supported by Sang and the broader team.”

For Showalter, making a difference isn’t about her work in isolation, but rather, she hopes to be part of a broader systematic push toward creating healthier workplace relationships for everyone.

“I do hope that we can learn more about what makes work healthier — even seemingly small interventions — and about what a more sustainable, even-keeled relationship with work looks like,” Showalter said. “That type of relationship is possible. So, if my work could contribute even a little bit to that broader understanding, that would be very meaningful to me.”