PENN STATE HBG
MIDDLETOWN, PA 17057
Biography
Dr. Amber Stephenson, PhD, MPH, is a Professor of Management and Director of the School of Business Administration at Penn State Harrisburg.
Her research focuses on how women leaders experience gender bias, the health workforce and organization, as well as professional identity. She publishes in top healthcare management and general management journals like Health Care Management Review, Medical Care Research and Review, Personnel Review, Human Resource Development Quarterly, and Harvard Business Review. Dr. Stephenson’s work has been featured in media outlets like Morning Joe, CBS News, CNBC, Business Insider, Financial Times, Fortune, and was utilized in policy by the European Health Parliament.
Dr. Stephenson's has earned several honors including the 2024 Herbert Vaughan Distinguished Lectureship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, panelist by invitation at the 2022 inauguration of University College London’s Global Business School for Health, and invited lecturer at the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program in 2020. She is currently on the Executive Board of the Academy of Management Health Care Management Division.
Previously Dr. Stephenson was on the leadership team of the David D. Reh School of Business at Clarkson University as Director of Healthcare Management Graduate Programs. She also served as Provost Faculty Fellow, Faculty Senator, and Senior Personnel on Clarkson University's ~$1M National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE grant, aimed at promoting gender equity among women faculty.
Research Interests
- How women leaders experience gender bias
- The healthcare workforce and organization
- Professional identity and identification
Publications
Stephenson, A. L. & Yerger, D. B. (2025). Research: The gender wage gap tipping point. Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2025/07/research-the-gender-wage-gap-tipping-point
Rathert, C., & Stephenson, A. L., Simmons, D. R., & Mittler, J. N. (2025). Do patient-provider therapeutic connections vary by race? A descriptive comparison of White, Black, and Hispanic/Latino patient experiences. Journal of Healthcare Management, 70(3), 189-204.
Sullivan, E. E., Stephenson, A. L., DePuccio, M. J., Anderson, B., Auxier, W., Henderson, J., & Linzer, M. (2024). Workplace factors related to health care leader well-being in rural settings. Journal of Rural Health, 41(1) e12863.
Diehl, A., Dzubinski, L., & Stephenson, A. L. (2023). Women in leadership face ageism at every age. Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2023/06/women-in-leadership-face-ageism-at-every-age
Diehl, A., Dzubinski, L., & Stephenson, A. L. (2023). Never quite right: Identity factors contributing to bias and discrimination experienced by women leaders in the United States. Human Resources Development Quarterly, 1-20.
Stephenson, A. L., Sullivan, E. E., & Hoffman, A. R. (2023). How to make leadership positions more enticing to primary care physicians. Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2023/06/how-to-make-leadership-positions-more-enticing-…
Stephenson, A. L. & Yerger, D. B. (2023). Examining the boundary conditions of tokenism: Exploring tipping effects for within occupation gender wage gaps. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: An International Journal, 43(4), 711-727.
Sullivan, E., Stephenson, A. L., Khaing, W. W., Bazemore, A., & Hoffman, A. R. (2023). Primary care physician leadership in top ranked U.S. hospitals. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 36(4), 682-684.
Diehl, A. B., Stephenson, A. L., & Dzubinski, L. M. (2022). Research: How Bias Against Women Persists in Female-Dominated Workplaces. Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2022/03/research-how-bias-against-women-persists-in-fem…
Raj, M., Sullivan, E., Stephenson, A. L., DePuccio, M., Thomas, S., Fleuren, B., & McAlearney, A. (2022). Conceptual framework for integrating family caregivers into the health care team: A scoping review. Medical Care Research and Review, 80(2), 131-144.
Hoff, T. & Stephenson, A. L. (2022). Changes in career thinking and work intentions among academic physicians as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 25(5), 934-939.
Stephenson, A. L., Sullivan, E., & Hoffman, A. R. (2022). Primary care physician leaders' perspectives on opportunities and challenges in health care leadership: A qualitative study. BMJ Leader, 7, 28-32.
Stephenson, A. L., Diehl, A. B. & Dzubinski, L. M. (2022). Cross industry comparison of gender bias experienced by women leaders. Personnel Review, 52(1), 145-165.
Sullivan, E., Stephenson, A. L., & Hoffman, A. R. (2022). Engaging physicians in leadership: Motivations, challenges, and identity-based considerations. Journal of Healthcare Management, 67(4), 254-265.
Upadhyay, S., Stephenson, A. L., Weech-Maldonado, R., & Cochran, C. (2021). Hospital cultural competency and attributes of patient safety culture: A study of US hospitals. Journal of Patient Safety, 18(3), e680-e686.
Raj, M. DePuccio, M., Stephenson, A. L., Sullivan, E., Lai, A., Fleuren, B., Sriharan, A., McAlearney, A. S. & Thomas, S. (2021). Addressing Evolving Patient Concerns around Telehealth in the COVID-19 Era. The American Journal of Managed Care, 27(1), e1-e3.
Yerger, D. B., & Stephenson, A. L. (2020). Advocating the use of threshold effects estimation: An illustration using the gender wage gap. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 32(1), 77-91.
Diehl, A. B., Stephenson, A. L., Dzubinski, L.M., & Wang, D. C. (2020). Measuring the invisible: Development and multi-industry validation of the Gender Bias Scale for women leaders. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 31, 249-280.
Stephenson, A. L., Heckert, D. A., & Yerger, D. B. (2020). Examining college student retention: A closer look at low self-control. International Journal of Educational Management, 34(5), 953-964.
Upadhyay, S., Weech-Maldonado, R., Lemak, C. H., Stephenson, A. L., & Smith, D. G. (2019). Hospital staffing patterns and safety culture perceptions: The mediating role of perceived teamwork and perceived handoffs. Health Care Management Review, 46(3), 227-236.
Upadhyay, S., Stephenson, A. L., & Smith, D. (2019). Readmission rates and their impact on hospital financial performance: A study of Washington hospitals. INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, 56, 1-10.
Stephenson, A. L., & Bell, N. M. (2019). Social identity and the prison health worker: Implications for practitioner satisfaction and turnover intentions. Health Care Management Review, 44(4), 286-295.
Stephenson, A. L., & Bell, N. M. (2019). Finding meaningful work in difficult circumstances: A study of prison health workers. Health Services Management Research, 32(2), 69-77.
Upadhyay, S., Weech-Maldonado, R., Lemak, C. H., Stephenson, A. L., Mehta, T., & Smith, D. G. (2018). Resource based view on safety culture’s influence on hospital performance: The moderating role of EHR implementation. Health Care Management Review, 45(3), 207-216.
Stephenson, A. L., Heckert, D. A., & Yerger, D. B. (2016). College choice and the university brand: Exploring the consumer decision framework. Higher Education, 71(4), 489-503.
Stephenson, A. L., & Bell, N. M. (2014). Motivation for alumni donations: a social identity perspective on the role of branding in higher education. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 19(3), 176–186.
Stephenson, A. L., & Yerger, D. B. (2014). Optimizing alumni engagement: The effect of brand identification on alumni donation behaviors. International Journal of Educational Management, 28(7), 765-778.
Stephenson, A. L., & Yerger, D. B. (2014). Does brand identification transform alumni into university brand advocates? International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 11, 243-262.
Education
B.S., M.P.H., Ph.D., Indiana University of Pennsylvania