Projects
What we are currently busy with
The Psychology of Startup Employees
Yang Mei (PhD Candidate) studies startup workforce's psychological profiles and how they interact with key organizational-level cues, in particular money (capital-backed scaling) and mission (ventures with a social/environmental mission). Her project is under the supervision of Martin Obschonka, Yuval Engel, Kevin Curran and Lien de Cuyper.
Yang also curates the online scholarly group Well-being & DEI in Entrepreneurship Research.
Combating Masculine Defaults in the STEM sector
Socio-cognitive Foundations of Deep-tech Innovation
Jorge Sandoval (PhD Candidate) examines the socio-cognitive foundations of deep-tech innovation, focusing on how beliefs about technological feasibility, market attractiveness, and ecosystem dynamics shape innovation trajectories. His project emphasizes the role of technoscientific niches, arguing that different scientific communities produce field-specific forms of tacit knowledge shaped by distinct biases, values, and expectations, which in turn shape how technologies are perceived, modeled, and developed by practitioners.
By connecting individual-level cognitive models, field-specific tacit knowledge, market narratives of technological promise, and ecosystem-level incentives and consensus-building mechanics, Jorge aims to explain the the path-dependent nature of deep-tech inventions and how early technological lock-in generates coordination strains and efficiency trade-offs in industries characterized by high rates of technological turnover.
Yuval Engel is part of a 3-year European research project called 'Combating Masculine Defaults in the STEM Sector'. The project develops practical solutions for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) workplaces. Its goal is to identify and address 'masculine defaults’. These are aspects of organizational culture and practices that value, reward, or regard as standard, normal, neutral, or necessary characteristics or behaviors associated with the male gender role.
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Supported by a grant from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, this project is a collaboration between University of Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam), The Inclusion Studio, Alliander, Valsplat, ProRail, and Ofi.