Sue Ashford, Michigan Ross professor, Sanger Research Lab member, and member of the Sanger Faculty Advisory Board, recently published a new article in Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior titled Angles on agency: A research life betting on human initiative and potential.
In the article, Ashford reflects on decades of research focused on agency—how individuals take initiative to shape their roles, careers, and work environments. She examines agency across a range of organizational contexts, including feedback seeking, proactive behavior, managerial influence, and career navigation in uncertain or evolving work settings.
Ashford’s work emphasizes individuals as active participants in organizational life, highlighting how people interpret situations, make choices, and influence outcomes while navigating risk, ambiguity, and constraint.