Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work with Professor Yang of the Management Department at the Wharton School. We worked on a research project that seeks to explain the patterns of status-pay trade-off through analyzing gender patterns in engineers’ job applications, which has significant implications for the entire labor market.

Since this is a remote position, I primarily helped with literature review and compilation. The topics that I have dived into include entrepreneurship, goal-setting, and gender differences in the workplace. I also did a regional literature review that includes the U.S. and South Korea. In this process, not only did I learn how to look for relevant articles effectively, but also how to quickly capture the important themes covered in different types of academic papers. This will be an asset when it comes to preparing for my own honors theses at Penn.

During the ten-week remote experience, Professor Yang walked me through the big picture of the research and the assistance that she needs. We managed to review the work regularly and I was able to connect with another PURM participant for this project so that we can discuss problems that arise. I was extremely glad to be connected with a mentor and a peer throughout the summer and for this opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research in the field of business management. In the future, I would love to continue working with Professor Yang on this project, and this experience also inspired me to pursue a masters’ degree in management.