Sonia Kang

Sonia Kang

Professor (Organizational Behaviour & HR Management)
Management

Professor Sonia Kang is currently the Canada Research Chair in Identity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

ABOUT ME

Dr. Sonia Kang holds the Canada Research Chair in Identity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and is a Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management at the University of Toronto, where she is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the Rotman School of Management’s Institute for Gender and the Economy (GATE) and Chief Scientist, Organizations in the Behavioural Economics in Action Research Centre at Rotman (BEAR). Sonia is also Special Advisor on Anti-Racism & Equity at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Sonia earned a  B.Sc. (Hons) in Psychology from the University of Alberta, an M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Toronto, and completed a SSHRC Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Northwestern University. 

SCHOLARSHIP & RESEARCH

Sonia’s research explores the challenges and opportunities of identity, diversity, and inclusion. She takes a novel approach by harnessing the power of behavioral insights and organizational design to disrupt systems, processes, and structures that block the path toward diversity and inclusion for individuals, organizations, and society.

Some recent themes investigated in her research include diversity and inclusion in STEM and medicine; using choice architecture to eliminate the gender gap in competition; disclosure of designated group status under the Canadian Employment Equity Act; the effects of high and low power on performance; the interpretation of equality rights under the Canadian Constitution; the effectiveness of pro-diversity statements; and the decision to reveal or conceal race and gender cues when navigating the labour market. Sonia’s research on “resume whitening” won two best paper awards and was recently ranked #3 on Financial Times’ global top 100 list of “business school research with social impact” (!).

Sonia’s research has been published widely in top-tier academic journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, The Lancet, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Science, and Annual Review of Psychology, and is frequently featured in media outlets such as The Harvard Business Review, The Financial Times, Forbes, The Globe and Mail, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and on CBC Radio. As well, Sonia is the host of the popular podcast, For the Love of Work, in which she explores important organizational issues through the lens of the employee experience. Sonia was recently named as one of 50 “Changemakers” in Canada by Report on Business Magazine. 

Education
Ph.D., University of Toronto
M.A., University of Toronto

Publications

Selected Publications - Papers

Selected Publications - Books and Chapters

Research

Diversity, Organizational Behaviour, Human Resource Management