Stacey Fitzsimmons

Stacey Fitzsimmons brings a passion for helping individuals and organizations realize the strengths of a diverse workforce. Her research goal is to improve the way people work with others across differences.

Her current research examines how immigrants, their descendants, and bicultural employees each contribute to their teams and organizations. For example, when one person can see the world through more than one cultural lens, they can use those lenses to solve problems, build networks across groups, and think differently than people who have one culture. Her research helps organizations value multicultural employees’ skills that often go unrecognized. Click here for Harvard Business Review coverage of her research about discovering whether you’re multicultural, and intersectional pay gaps across gender, race, mother tongue and immigrant generation. Here is a summary of her research about the organizational benefits of bicultural employees.

Stacey's research has been published in Academy of Management Review, the Journal of International Business Studies, Human Resource Management Review, and Organization Studies. Her awards include the Academy of Management’s International Human Resources Scholarly Research award and the Women in the Academy of International Business (WAIB) Emerging Scholar award. She serves on the editorial review boards of the Journal of International Business Studies and Journal of Business Research, and was elected to the position of WAIB Academic Research Officer for 2021-23. She is on the core research team for the GLOBE project, and is currently guest editing a special issue of the Journal of the International Business Studies, called “Rethinking Global Mobility: Challenges and Opportunities for International Business."

Stacey primarily teaches a course called Leading People in Organizations, which helps students build interpersonal skills for working well with others. Prior to joining the University of Victoria in 2014, she was an assistant professor at Western Michigan University.

Journal publications

Pesch, R., Ipek, E., & Fitzsimmons, S. (2022). Be a hero: Employ refugees like a pragmatist. Organizational Dynamics, doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2022.100912

Minbaeva, D., Fitzsimmons, S. & Brewster, C. (2021) Beyond the double-edged sword of cultural diversity in teams: Progress, critique, and next steps. Journal of International Business Studies, 52, 45-55. doi.org/10.1057/s41267-020-00390-2

Fitzsimmons, S., Baggs, J., & Brannen, M. Y. (2020) Intersectional Arithmetic: How gender, race and mother tongue combine to impact immigrants’ work outcomes. Journal of World Business,55(1). 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2019.101013

Vora, D., Martin, L., Fitzsimmons, S. R., Pekerti, A., Lakshman, C., & Raheem, S. (2019). Multiculturalism within individuals: A review, critique, and agenda for future research. Journal of International Business Studies, 50, 499-524. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-018-0191-3, https://dspace.library.uvic.ca//handle/1828/10418

Szymanski, M., Fitzsimmons, S. R., & Danis, W. (2019). Multicultural Managers and Competitive Advantage: Evidence from elite football teams. International Business Review, 28(2), 305–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2018.10.003

Dietz, J., Fitzsimmons, S. R., Aycan, Z., Francesco, A. M., Jonsen, K., Osland, J., … Boyacigiller, N. (2017). Cross-cultural management education rebooted: Creating positive value through scientific mindfulness. Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, 24, 125–151. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCSM-01-2016-0010

Fitzsimmons, S. R., Liao, E. Y., & Thomas, D. C. (2017). From crossing cultures to straddling them: An empirical examination of outcomes for multicultural employees. Journal of International Business Studies, (48), 63–89. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-016-0053-9, https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/9391

Fitzsimmons, S. R. (2014). Us, Them and Others in Management Research. Academy of Management Review, 39(3), 384–386. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2014.0041; https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/7593

Fitzsimmons, S. R., & Stamper, C. (2014). How societal culture influences friction in the employee-organization relationship. Human Resource Management Review, 24(1), 80–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2013.07.001; https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/7596

Fitzsimmons, S. R., Lee, Y., & Brannen, M. Y. (2013). Demystifying the Myth about Marginals: Implications for Global Leadership. European Journal of International Management, 7(5), 587–603. https://doi.org/ 10.1504/EJIM.2013.056479; http://venus.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/7595

Fitzsimmons, S. R. (2013). Multicultural Employees: A framework for understanding how they contribute to organizations. Academy of Management Review, 38, 525–549. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2011.0234; https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/7592

Fitzsimmons, S. R. (2012). Women on Canadian Boards of Directors: Why skirts in seats aren’t enough. Business Horizons, 55, 557–566. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2012.07.003; https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/7594

Fitzsimmons, S. R., Miska, C., & Stahl, G. K. (2011). Multicultural employees: Global business’ untapped resource. Organizational Dynamics, 40, 199–206. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2011.04.007; https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/7599

Thomas, D. C., Fitzsimmons, S. R., Ravlin, E., Au, K., Ekelund, B., & Barzantny, C. (2010). Psychological contracts across cultures. Organization Studies, 31, 1437–1458. http://doi.org/ 10.1177/0170840610380811

Recognition & Awards

Grants

Completed

• PhD Fellowship, Funded by Social Sciences Research Council of Canada (September 1, 2007 - August 31, 2009) ($40,000.00), Completed, Spring 2009, PI Stacey Fitzsimmons
• Organizing with the New Demographic: The Bidirectional Influence of Immigrant and Bicultural Employees on Their Organizations, ($52,661) Funded by SSHRC (June 1, 2016 – May 31, 2020). PI Stacey Fitzsimmons with CoInvestigators Mary Yoko Brannen and Jelena Zikic
• Who's at the Top? How Racialized Female Newcomers Ascend to Top Management Teams. Mitacs-Scotiabank Fellowship grant for PhD student Aminat Muibi, in partnership with MOSAIC. (June-October 2021) ($20,000). 
• Women and Leadership Across Cultures. Funded by SSHRC Partnership Development Grant. Part of the GLOBE Project. ($200,000). 
  
• Societal Cultures, Leadership and the Human Side of Organizations: A multi-country study with a focus on women leaders and HR practices, ($270,000), Funded by SSHRC (August 2016). PI Ali Dastmalchian with CoPIs Claudia Steinke and Stacey Fitzsimmons, CoInvestigator Peter Dorfman.

Courses Taught

• Selected Topics in Management: #MeToo & #BlackLivesMatter (BCom)
• Leading People & Organizations I (BCom)