Cassandra Phetmisy

Bio

Cassandra N. Phetmisy (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland. She received her PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Rice University in 2024.

Dr. Phetmisy’s research is centered on the influence of critical contextual (non-work) stressors on employee effectiveness and wellbeing at work and in their career. She is curious about understanding and addressing challenges that are not directly work-related but nevertheless impede on one’s abilities to perform at work, pursue career goals, or maintain job satisfaction and wellbeing.

Dr. Phetmisy’s research program follows three central and interrelated aims. First, she seeks to explain the role of financial stress and workplace pay practices on employees’ behaviors, perceptions, and decision-making at work. Her second line of research aims to clarify the processes that shape employee resilience, or the continued pursuit of goals despite adversities. Third, she seeks to further our understanding of physiological and mental health implications of employee stress. To address these aims, she draws from varied organizational research methods, including experience sampling methodology, physiological measurement, meta-analysis, qualitative interviews, multi-source data (e.g., supervisors and employees), and experimental designs.