Alumna Highlight—Xiao Chen

Can you describe the work you are doing now?

Let me give a quick summary of my background! In short, I am really into humans, so I chose to study psychology at Minerva. After graduation, I became enthusiastic about pursuing my master’s degree. I applied to a fully-funded master’s program called Schwarzman Scholars (based in Beijing). Given that eighty percent of Schwarzman Scholars are international scholars, it felt like the right thing to do – it was almost like an extension of Minerva, to be frank. After my master's, my goal was to combine human psychology with business, which brought me to my PhD in organizational behavior.

As for my work these days, my day starts with replying to emails from my co-authors. Then, I move on to doing readings for my research writing and creating surveys. I do data analysis daily, but I also genuinely love chatting with my office mates during my breaks. In simple terms, my life is to learn, write research papers and articles, chat in between, and repeat.

You will probably ask about my future plans, but let me make your job easier! I am interested in two potential paths for my future. First, I want to learn more about creating a better environment and empowering employees. In other words, what can we, employers, do to make employees feel like they can be comfortable being themselves at work? Second, I want to focus on inclusion. How do people experience inclusion, and how can we foster this feeling of belonging and acceptance?

‍What is a post-graduation project you have worked on that you are most proud of?

I am quite excited about one of the projects I am currently working on because I think it is an impressive and niche piece of knowledge that the literature needs, and it is an interest that my Minerva experience sparked in me.

From the research side, the concept of inclusion has been drawn out pretty well. However, there is a stark difference between feeling included and being authentic. The questions I would ask are: What is the difference between disclosing oneself and belonging to a common environment? What specific measures can managers and leaders implement to touch on more dimensions of inclusion? It is not just about, “I, Xiao, belong to this group.” It is also about: “I feel like I can bravely be Xiao in this community.” There is a part of me that is different from everybody else, but it is also accepted. There is another part of me, a shared identity, that we are all creating.

A quick anecdote: As I said earlier, I became interested in the specifics of inclusion after becoming a Minervan. One day, I wondered: What if Minerva had brought together these students from all around the world just for the sole purpose of taking online classes together? Let us say we would not be living together; we would only meet online. How would we bond over this experience compared to our experience participating in the global rotation? How different would the common Minerva identity we sewed together be?

Which semester or summer stands out for you in terms of your professional development?

This is a tough question for sure. If we are just narrowing it down to professional development, I would say the fall semester and the immediate summer after spent in Argentina were really defining time periods for me – even though our semester was largely overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Argentina, I took on a civic project with my team in a hospital. More specifically, the chief operations manager of the hospital wanted our team to do research on the employees who were experiencing burnout in exceedingly large numbers. The issues included working overtime and several conflicts between the doctors and the administrative staff.

To solve the question of burnout, we attempted to do research at the intersection of business and social sciences. Even though I did not – and still cannot – speak Spanish, we decided to do interviews. After doing lots of literature research, we drafted interview questions, the results of which we presented to the chief operations manager. She actually ended up introducing us and our ideas to the board of trustees. It was such a truly fantastic experience to have our voice heard. Among many other measures, we recommended having an open workspace to increase communication among employees, a separate room for gym equipment for employees to take time off work, and an increased number of positive affirmations and acknowledgments to help solve conflicts. Surprisingly, we kept our project active even during the COVID times!

This civic project was followed by many other great research opportunities. I started multiple other research projects at that same hospital but with a different team, including a literature review. For example, I contributed to a research project in Buenos Aires that led to a publication on transitional discharge interventions for individuals with schizophrenia. That summer, I also had the opportunity to intern as a remote research assistant at Berkeley University’s Baby Lab, where I learned about developmental psychology while reading stories to kids on Zoom.

I guess the moral of this story is not to let yourself stop you from doing a project you are truly passionate about – even if you think no one would trust us, a bunch of foreign students who do not speak Spanish, to do research at a hospital in Argentina. If it had not been for Minerva to push me in this direction, who knows what opportunities I might have missed out on?

Could you tell me a little bit more about your journey in the Schwarzman Scholars Program? How did relationships with your Minerva professors help you to get into this program?

Let me first answer the question regarding Minerva professors. Unfortunately, I think I used my excellent professors’ help less than I had wished. My application process was quite chaotic, as I had just left Argentina and was in quarantine in Shanghai for two weeks. The deadline was alarmingly approaching, and I needed help.

I want to thank Professor Kevin Connelly, who supported me as my academic advisor. I also want to thank Professor Chang, who taught one of my finance classes. They both were of immense help by writing my recommendation letters in less than five days. I appreciated their support and the fact that they did not turn me down, even though I definitely notified them at the last minute.

Regarding my experience: As I said earlier, I think Schwarzman is somewhat similar to Minerva. The community is incredibly diverse (60+ countries), and the program focuses on global and cultural awareness. I always say this, but the kind of people that Minerva is producing are needed in this world. I think Minerva helped me stand out in this regard, having experienced its global rotation program. I have had fascinating cross-cultural conversations and enlightening exchanges of ideas.

I think my Schwarzman Scholars Program experience is a bit different from my Minerva journey, given that this is a master’s program. Students know what they want and have the resources to get it. This overall attitude made me think about the impact and value I bring to the world.

What advice would you give to incoming students considering your majors?

Since I have a conflicting internal argument, please take this with a grain of salt. Although my interest lies at the intersection of psychology and business, I actually wish I had dropped a major and taken more elective classes. This is coming from my PhD student self – now that I am completing my PhD, I am deep-diving into one specific subject. But think about it – if you want to dive deep into something and become an expert, you have your whole life to do that. Thus, my current perspective on undergraduate studies is to go broad. 

I just think it is impossible to become an expert in anything in four years, so if you really do not know what you want, just explore. I wish I had taken more computational sciences classes. And how I wish I had taken more history classes! Take advantage of all the available course offerings.

Now I realize that your life will probably start broad after graduation, but eventually, it will inevitably narrow. It will become narrower and narrower because you need to make a living, so there will be a lot of opportunities later in life, to be specific, and to find a domain in which to become an expert. Until that point, I would advise everyone to prioritize learning and not try to narrow themselves down too early.

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‍If you were inspired by Xiao’s story and are seeking a college experience that will teach you valuable pragmatic skills that will enable you to change the world, consider applying to Minerva.