About

Amit Kramer is an Associate Dean for Online Graduate Education and an Associate Professor at the School of Labor and Employment Relations. His research focuses on the complex relationship between work, family, and health, examining how work and family resources, demands, and responsibilities impact employees' physical and psychological health and wellbeing. He studies the effectiveness of family-friendly policies in organizations, exploring what makes employees aware of these policies, the factors predicting their utilization, and whether these policies achieve their intended organizational and individual outcomes. Additionally, Kramer investigates the role of diversity and identity in individual and organizational outcomes, with a particular interest in workplace inequality across racial, ethnic, gender, and social class lines, and how these inequalities interact with outside-of-work contexts. His interdisciplinary research combines insights from HR, organizational behavior, psychology, and economics, and has been published in various academic journals. He also serves as an associate editor and editorial board member for several journals.

Research topics

• Social psychology
• Psychology
• Computer Science
• Political Science
• Sociology
• Engineering
• Psychiatry
• Management
• Clinical psychology
• Pedagogy
• Developmental psychology
• Public relations

Selected publications

• Fairness after hours: Fairness in Technology-assisted supplemental work, employee energy, personal initiative, and work withdrawal

  Cross Cultural & Strategic Management · 2026-03-13

  article

  Purpose This study aims to investigate the relationship between technology-assisted supplemental work (TASW) fairness and resource investment strategies in the workplace, namely personal initiative and work withdrawal behaviors, with energy as a mediating factor and conscientiousness and neuroticism as moderators. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 728 USA employees was collected to test the proposed model using mediation and moderated-mediation analyses. Findings The study finds support for the mediation hypotheses, indicating that when employees perceive TASW as fair (unfair), they report higher (lower) energy levels and are thus likely to engage in personal initiative (work withdrawal) behaviors. Additionally, conscientiousness strengthens the positive relationship between TASW-fairness and personal initiative, while the negative relationship between TASW-fairness and work withdrawal appears consistent across neuroticism levels. Originality/value This study introduces the concept of TASW within a fairness framework and relates it to resource investment strategies in the workplace, providing novel insights into the role of fairness perceptions and individual differences in shaping employee behaviors.

  PublisherDOI

• Post-infection mental illness: Mapping pathways of vulnerability and resilience in VIRAL-MInds

  Brain Behavior and Immunity · 2026-01-18

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Professional and service-user perspectives regarding the future of mental healthcare in Israel

  Israel Journal of Health Policy Research · 2025-08-06

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: A recent call has been made in Israel to address the needs of citizens inflicted by multiple adversities such world pandemic, internal conflicts, events of mass trauma and ongoing war. Nonetheless, public's and mental health professional's view regarding these needs and their prioritization is not well understood. This study aims to bridge this gap in knowledge, by assessing mental health service users and professionals' views regarding the future of mental health in Israel. METHODS: Two surveys were distributed to mental health professionals and service users. Responders (286 professionals and 522 service users) were asked about their vision for future mental health services and their views regarding the integration of technology and innovation, using a close-ended measure developed by mental health professionals to address local challenges. RESULTS: The top-rated category among professionals and service users was improving accessibility, with 75% of the service users and 82% of the professionals ranking this item as one of top-three items. Individuals with less experience with the mental healthcare system tended to rank personalized care as second-ranked priority (OR = 0.48, p = 0.04), whereas highly experienced individuals were more likely to rank alternatives to psychiatric hospitalization as third-ranked priority (OR = 2.99, p < 0.001). Professionals ranked the level of innovation in Israel's mental healthcare as 3.37 (SD = 1.82), and service users ranked 3.18 (SD = 2.12) out of 10. Among mental health professionals, lack of resources was rated as the predominant challenge in implementing technology and innovation. CONCLUSIONS: Policy and decision-makers in Israel should consider addressing the issue of mental healthcare accessibility as top priority when planning a mental health reform, as well as routes to improve personalized care and alternative to psychiatric admissions. Steps should be taken to improve innovation and technology as means to improve the quality of mental healthcare in Israel.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Tipping the scales: how paid work hours thresholds impact health and gender wage disparities

  The International Journal of Human Resource Management · 2025-07-20

  articleCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The Relationship Between HRM Systems and Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2025-07-01

  articleSenior author

  This meta-analysis investigates the relationship between Human Resource Management (HRM) systems and employee well-being, focusing on high-performance work systems (HPWS), high-involvement work systems (HIWS), and other similar HRM bundles. We contrast the

  PublisherDOI

• Navigating DEI in Unsupportive Macro Environments: Insights from International Research

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2025-07-01

  articleSenior author

  In recent years, the adoption and promotion of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) as organizational initiatives has faced significant backlash, particularly in politically polarized environments. Amid this, businesses and organizational leaders are grappling with the dual challenge of managing an increasingly diverse talent, while navigating the political and social pressures that might seek to undermine these strategies. The objective of this symposium is to shed light on the challenges and opportunities for organizational leaders in managing diversity amid DEI backlash or in politically unsupportive environments. Organizational theories highlight the close relationship between diversity management practices and the legal and societal environments in which organizations operate. Understanding the complexities of managing diversity requires examining influences across legal, political, and cultural systems. This symposium, featuring papers from four groups of international scholars, adopts a multi-level, interdisciplinary perspective to uncover the strategies and opportunities for organizational leaders promoting DEI and intergroup equity in politically or institutionally unsupportive contexts. ‘Women Problems’ in Conservative Spaces: On Professional Executive Recruitment for Gender Equality Author: Kai Storm; Copenhagen Business School Author: Sara Louise Muhr; Copenhagen Business School Justifying Inequity in Systems, Not in Leaders: Promoting DEI When it is Not Politically Supported Author: Yi-Ren Wang; Asia School of Business Author: Zhai Gen Tan; University of California Santa Barbara A Postcolonial and Critical International Relations Perspective on Israel-Palestine-Lebanon Conflict Author: Jawad Syed; Lahore University of Management Sciences Author: Ibrahim Ayyaz; Lahore University of Management Sciences Diversity Studies in Times of Backlash: Avenues for the Future Author: Alain Klarsfeld; Toulouse Business School Author: Lucy Taksa; Deakin University

  PublisherDOI

• Identifying the Working Hours Thresholds Impacting Health and Gender Wage Disparities

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2024-07-09

  article

  In this study, we investigate the intricate interplay of working hours and perceived health, and its subsequent influence on gender wage disparity in South Korea. Drawing from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) spanning 2013 to 2021, a causal link between working hours and perceived health is established. Employing cross-lagged and instrumental variable approaches, this study highlights the distinct health impacts of working hours on men and women, resulting in gender-specific wage differences. The 2018 policy amendment in South Korea, which lowered the maximum weekly working hours, served as an instrumental variable. Key findings reveal an inverted U-curve relationship between working hours and health, with discerned inflection points at 41.36 hours per week for men and 28.95 hours for women. Additionally, our analysis uncovers a bidirectional relationship between self-perceived health and earnings. Consequently, prolonged work durations have a more pronounced negative impact on women's health, which might contribute to wage discrepancies. In summary, South Korea's 2018 initiative to curtail weekly working hours might play a pivotal role in narrowing both the health and wage disparities between genders. As the workforce transitions towards schedules that prioritize individual health boundaries, it is plausible to anticipate a progression towards more balanced health and wage outcomes across genders in the South Korean work environment.

  PublisherDOI

• Inefficiencies and bias in first job placement: The case of professional Asian nationals in the United States

  Journal of Industrial Relations · 2024-01-15

  article1st authorCorresponding

  We study whether the quality of the first job is lower for professional Asian nationals than for non-Asian nationals in the USA. With over a million professionals from Asia entering the US labor market in the past decade, a potential under placement may be both inefficient and discriminatory. We collected data on all newly hired assistant professors of management in research-intensive (R1) universities in the USA between 2010 and 2021. We focus on the quality of the university into which first hires are placed and examine whether first-job placement quality is lower for individuals who were born in East, South and Southeast Asia. We find that the quality and quantity of publication record are positively related to the quality of the placement and that Asian nationals have higher performance. However, Asian nationals are placed at lower-quality universities relative to their peers. Further, Asian nationals require a strong performance signal, in the form of first or second authorship on a publication to narrow the placement gap. Our results are explained by a combination of direct bias against applicants of Asian nationality and a requirement of a higher performance “burden of proof” from these applicants, compared to peers who are non-Asian nationals.

  PublisherDOI

• The Importance of Work in Romantic Relationships

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2023-10-18

  book-chapter

  Having a satisfying romantic relationship and satisfying employment is important to most people but maintaining the balance between these two domains is not easy. Both roles require a significant investment of time, effort, and cognitive and emotional resources. There is an increased realization in academia that the separation between studying relationships and studying work is artificial and does not represent the many intersections of these roles. In this chapter, we discuss how work and romantic relationships can interact with each other and impact individuals’ outcomes. We first cover workplace romantic relationships, workplace sexual harassment, and organizations’ attempt to regulate romantic relationships at work. Then, we continue with reviewing the positive and negative associations of work and romantic relationship. Lastly, we introduce an economic perspective to examining romantic relationships and consider the workplace as a local marriage market.

  PublisherDOI

• Discrimination Against Asian Immigrants to the US: Quality of the First Organizational Placement

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2023-07-24

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Hiring decisions are complex and subjective and for the most part, unobservable to researchers. In this study we try to overcome this limitation by studying whether nationality influences the evaluation of workers at time of hiring using data collected on all newly hired assistant professors of management and business administration in research-intensive (R1) universities in the Unites States between 2010 and 2021 (N = 452). We focus on the quality of the university into which recently graduated Ph.D. are placed and examine whether first-job placement quality is lower for individuals who were born in East, South and Southeast Asia (Asian nationals henceforth). We coded the publication record of assistant professor at time of hiring as well as a set of demographic characteristics of these hires. As expected, the ranking of the Ph.D. granting institution and the quality and quantity of the publication record are positively related to the quality of the placement. In addition, we find that conditional on Ph.D. granting institution and publication record, Asian nationals are placed at lower-quality universities relative to their peers. We also find that applicants who are Asian nationals require a strong performance signal, in the form of first or second authorship on a paper to narrow the placement gap. Overall, our results are best explained by a combination of direct discrimination against applicants of Asian nationality and a requirement of a higher performance “burden of proof” from these applicants, compared to other applicants.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Yin Lee

  10 shared

• Karen Z. Kramer

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  9 shared

• Sunjin Pak

  7 shared

• Devasheesh P. Bhave

  Singapore Management University

  6 shared

• Lisa M. Leslie

  New York University

  5 shared

• Sunjin Pak

  City University of Seattle

  5 shared

• Yaqing He

  University of Oklahoma

  4 shared

• Avner Ben‐Ner

  University of Minnesota

  4 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Human Resources

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  2005

• M.S., Human Resources

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  2001

• B.S., Human Resources

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  1999

Awards & honors

• Distinguished Alumni Award
• First Decade Achievement
• Special Honorees