Hi! I’m Jean.

I am an Assistant Professor of Organization Theory and Entrepreneurship at the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University.

I am interested in the role of entrepreneurship in society, specifically how and when it operates as a channel for upward mobility and as a solution to social problems. My research examines (1) how individuals’ socioeconomic origins affect their entrepreneurial outcomes; and (2) how entrepreneurs are motivated by creating social impact and solving specific problems like climate change. To answer these questions, I employ a variety of methods including field experiments, econometric analysis of archival data, and qualitative interviews. My work has been published in peer-reviewed academic journals including Management Science, PNAS, and Academy of Management Discoveries. My recent work focuses on how the socioeconomic backgrounds of entrepreneurs and investors shape startup investor behaviors, using a lab-in-the-field experiment on angel and venture capital investors. This work has been selected as a finalist for the 2023 Organization Science/INFORMS Dissertation Proposal Competition.

I received my PhD in Management at Columbia Business School, MS in Strategy and BBA from Seoul National University. I grew up in Upstate New York and Seoul, Korea, and currently live in Pittsburgh. Outside of academia, I enjoy spending time with my dog, going to anti-gravity yoga class, and playing electric guitar.