How Phyllis Wallace tackled workplace discrimination
Phyllis Wallace took part in a landmark 1970s AT&T discrimination case and researched the working lives of young Black women.
Faculty
Mary P. Rowe is an Adjunct Professor of Negotiation and Conflict Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and taught these topics for twenty years. She served for almost 42 years as an organizational ombuds reporting directly to five presidents of MIT. As a conflict management specialist and an expert in interpersonal negotiations, Rowe hears from hundreds of people a year about serious conflicts and concerns; she consults widely to corporations, academic institutions, and government agencies.
Rowe’s research and publications encompass a variety of topics encountered in her career—ranging from the role and work of an organizational ombuds to harassment, micro-affirmations, and bystanders. If you are interested in a particular article or topic in Rowe's publications, click here.
Her research interests include the different kinds of power that are used in interpersonal negotiations; harassment; dispute resolution system design; and coping with difficult people and unacceptable behavior. She is especially interested in the role of bystanders and the “bystanders of bystanders” in helping to affirm professional and productive behavior within organizations, and in the power of micro-affirmations to mitigate and even help to prevent the damage caused by micro-inequities of all kinds. Her current writing focuses on providing options for people to have a voice about their concerns and good ideas.
Rowe holds a BA in history/international relations from Swarthmore College and a PhD in economics from Columbia University.
Rowe, Mary. Negotiation Journal. Forthcoming. Download Preprint.
Rowe, Mary, MIT Sloan Working Paper 6746-22. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management, June 2022.
Rowe, Susannah G., Miriam T. Stewart, Sam Van Horne, Cassandra Pierre, Hanhan Wang, Makaila Manukyan, Megan Bair-Merritt, Aviva Lee-Parritz, Mary P. Rowe, Tait Shanafelt, and Mickey Trockel. JAMA Network Open Vol. 5, No. 5 (2022): e2210768. Download Paper.
Rowe, Mary, MIT Sloan Working Paper 6747-22. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management, April 2022.
Rowe, Mary, MIT Sloan Working Paper 6697-22. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management, April 2022.
Rowe, Mary. Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation Vol. 39, No. 10 (2021): 153-165. Download Preprint.
Phyllis Wallace took part in a landmark 1970s AT&T discrimination case and researched the working lives of young Black women.
Insights into attitudinal restructuring and intra-organizational negotiations still hold the key to positive outcomes.
"I am unaware of ... research ... that so clearly establishes a connection between perceptions of bystander action and occupational wellbeing."