Mary Dean Lee

Title: 
Professor Emerita, Organizational Behaviour & Human Resource Management
Mary Dean Lee
Contact Information
Email address: 
marydean.lee [at] mcgill.ca
Degree(s): 

PhD, Organizational Behaviour, Yale University, USA
MA, Industrial & Organizational Psychology, University of South Florida, USA
MEd, Social & Group Processes, Temple University, USA
BA, Literature & Theatre, Eckerd College, USA

Biography: 

Dr. Mary Dean Lee joined McGill's Faculty of Management after completing her doctorate in Organizational Behavior at Yale University and a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Business School. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 1991 and Full Professor in 2004. She also served a term as Associate Dean and Director of the Undergraduate Program from 1995 to 1997 and was Area Coordinator of the Organizational Behavior group from 1998 to 2006 and 2012 to 2015. Prior to assuming her first administrative post, she was invited to attend the Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration at Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, PA.

Dr. Lee teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management, Managerial Skill Development, Qualitative Research Methods, and Career Development. She received two awards for the design of innovative courses, one in 2000 and another in 2001.

Professional and managerial careers, the changing nature of work and retirement, work and family, and alternative work arrangements are Dr. Lee's current research interests. In Spring 2008, she was awarded a three-year SSHRC grant to research the reinvention of retirement by Baby Boomer professionals and managers in Canada and Australia. She recently served as an Associate Editor on a Special Issue of Human Relations on Reinventing Retirement. Prior to focusing on retirement trends, Dr. Lee completed a research project funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation on Managing Professionals in the 21st Century: The Evolution and Institutionalization of New Work Forms. This follow-up study (2002-04) was based on research carried out from 1996 to 1999 on reduced-load work arrangements among professionals and managers in 43 corporations across a variety of industries. This earlier study was also supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in New York, as well as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Results from thesestudies have been reported in chapters in a number of edited books, such as The New World of Work, Work-Life Integration and Gender, Work Stress & Health, as well as in articles published in Academy of Management Journal, Human Relations, Human Resource Management, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Journal of Management Development, and Organization Studies. In addition, the findings from the original study on reduced-load work  received a great deal of attention in the popular press and media, including American, Canadian and European newspapers. Dr. Lee was interviewed live on two national television networks in Canada and had an interview taped for a special program on NBC in New York. She was also featured on PBS radio and CBC radio across North America. She won the award at McGill University for the Professor most quoted in the media in 1999. Dr. Lee has also studied part-time work among doctors, lawyers, and accountants, and how women professionals combine career and family over the life span.

At conferences convened by organizations such as the Conference Boards of Canada and the U.S., Dr. Lee has been invited to address a variety of constituencies in the business community. She has also participated in a number of professional networks that bring academics and practitioners together, for example, the Wharton Work/Life Roundtable and the Boston College Roundtable on Work and Family. She also regularly organizes symposia and presents papers in the Careers Division of the Academy of Management. In 1990 she organized a symposium at the International Congress of Applied Psychology in Kyoto, Japan on the topic of international perspectives on work-family linkages.

Curriculum vitae: 
Group: 
Professor Emeritus
Research areas: 
Alternative Work Arrangements
Changing Nature of Work & Retirement
Managerial Careers
Work & Family
Selected publications: 

Papers in Peer-Reviewed Journals

Vough, Heather C., Bataille, Christine D., Sargent, Leisa, and Lee, Mary Dean. June 2016. Next-gen retirement. Harvard Business Review, 104-107.
Martin, W. and Lee, M. D. 2016. Managers’ work and retirement: Understanding the connections. Work, Employment and Society, February, 30, 40-58.
Kossek, E. E., Ollier-Malaterre, A., Lee, M. D., Pichler, S. and Hall, D. T. 2016. Line managers’ rationales for professionals’ reduced load work in embracing and ambivalent organizations. Human Resource Management, 55 (1), 143-171.
Lee, M. D., Zikic, J., Noh, S.-C. and Sargent, L. 2016. Human resource approaches to retirement: Gatekeeping, orchestrating, improvising and partnering. Human Resource Management. Published online DOI: 10.1002/hrm.21775.
Vough, H., Bataille, C., Noh, S. and Lee, M. D. 2015. Going off script: How managers make sense of the ending of their careers. Journal of Management Studies, 52 (3), 414-440.
Hall, D. T., Kossek, E. E., Briscoe, J. P., Pichler, S., and Lee, M. D. 2013. Non-work orientation relative to career: A multi-dimensional measure. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83 (3), 539-550.
Sargent, L. D., Lee, M. D., Martin, B. and Zikic, J. 2013. Reinventing retirement: New pathways, new arrangements, new meanings. Human Relations,  66 (1), 3-21.
Hall, D. T., Lee, M. D., Las Heras, M. and Kossek, E. E. 2012. Pursuing career success while sustaining personal and family well-being: A study of reduced-load professionals over time. Journal of Social Issues, 68 (4), 742-766.
Lee, M. D., Kossek, E. E., Hall, D. T., and Litrico, J.-B. 2011. Entangled strands: A process perspective on the evolution of careers in the context of personal, family, work, and community life. Human Relations, 64 (12), 1531-1553.Hall, D. T., Lee, M. D., Las Heras, M. and Kossek, E. E. 2012. Pursuing career success while sustaining personal and family well-being: A study of reduced-load professionals over time. Journal of Social Issues, 68 (4), 742-766.
Litrico, J.-B., Lee, M.D. and Kossek, E.E.  2011. Cross-level dynamics between changing organizations and career patterns of reduced-load professionals. Organization Studies, 32 (12), 1678-1697.
Sargent, L. D., Bataille, C. D., Vough, H. C., and Lee, M. D. 2011. Metaphors for retirement: Unshackled from schedules. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79 (2), 315-324.

Books and Edited Volumes

 

Chapters in Books

 

Awards, honours, and fellowships: 

Awards

2003: Finalist for the Women of Distinction in Business Award, Montreal YWCA.

2001: Royal Bank Teaching and Learning Improvement Award for Innovative Teaching Proposal, "Professors Partnering with Practicing Professionals & Managers."

2000: Royal Bank Faculty Associate in University Teaching Award, with Steve Maguire, for Teaching Development Proposal: Re-engineering for Pedagogy Excellence.

2000: Recognized as the McGill professor most cited in 1999, with coverage by over 70 different media, including NBC Nightly News, CTV National News, Financial Times, and Los Angeles Times.  McGill Reporter, January 13, 2000.

1995: Nominated for the Women of Distinction in Business Award, Montreal YWCA.

1994: Nominated for the Women of Distinction in Business Award, Montreal YWCA.

Fellowships

1980 - 1981: Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts.

Grants

2008: Awarded a 3-Year SSHRC Grant for research on: The Reinvention of Retirement: A Study of Baby Boomer Professionals in Two Nations

2002: Awarded research grant by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for project: "Managing Professionals in the 21st Century: The Evolution and Institutionalization of New Work Forms.”

1996: Awarded research grant: “Reconceptualizing Managerial Careers in Organizations.” Alfred P. Sloan Foundation of New York.

1996: Awarded research grant: “Women as Forerunners of Change: Reconceptualizing Professional and Managerial Careers in Organizations,” Women and Change Theme in Strategic Research Initiative, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

1990: Awarded research grant to study professional women’s patterns of combining career and family over the life span. National Centre for Management Research & Development, University of Western Ontario.

1988: Awarded research grant to study the career patterns of MBA graduates. Graduate Management Admissions Council of California.

1985: Awarded research grant to study the career patterns of MBA graduates. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

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