Roni Shen

Roni Shen is a Ph.D. candidate in Technology Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she also earned a B.S. in Aquatic Biology in 2011. After spending close to a decade working in industries ranging from fisheries management to veterinary medicine in various technical and managerial roles, she returned to UCSB to pursue studies in technology and organizing, with a focus on digital transformation, innovation, expertise, and the evolution of knowledge and work practices. Motivated by a lifelong fascination with work, Roni's current projects investigate the effects of algorithms on knowledge and knowing, the socio-emotional impacts of digital exhaustion on knowledge workers, and the influence of predictive technologies on shaping expert role relations and work practices. Her dissertation examines AI and robotics use in dairy farming and the impacts of predictive technologies on farmers’ expertise and relationships. She primarily employs ethnographic observations and interviews to explore the relationship between technology, workers, and the natural world from a holistic and sociomaterial perspective. Her work has been published in Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior and research based on her dissertation was selected for publication in Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings. She also has a forthcoming book chapter in Research in the Sociology of Organizations on the micro- and macro-social impacts of digital technologies on discourse and institutions. She is also an active member of the academic community, organizing conferences, workshops, and guest lectures, as well as presenting at conferences including AOM, EGOS, ICIS, and PROS.