Hi! I’m Jean.

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Management Division at Columbia Business School. Starting in Fall 2024, I will be joining the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University as an Assistant Professor of Organization Theory and Entrepreneurship.

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 job market paper 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.

Prior to starting my PhD, I received my MS in Strategy and BBA from Seoul National University. I grew up in Upstate New York and Seoul, Korea, and currently live in New York City. Outside of academia, I enjoy learning about dog training, going to anti-gravity yoga class, and playing electric guitar.