Yixi Chen

I am a 5th-year Ph.D. candidate in Management (Organization Theory) at Columbia Business School. I will be on the 2026-2027 job market.

My research sits at the intersection of identity, social evaluation, entrepreneurship, and social networks. I study how entrepreneurs and workers strategically present their stigmatized and marginalized identities, and how these choices shape resource acquisition, network formation, and well-being.

Across contexts ranging from neurodivergence to incarceration records, my dissertation proposes the concept of stigma as distinction, explaining when and how revealing, rather than concealing, a stigmatized and deviant identity can become an unexpected source of advantage. Methodologically, I bring together video and written-vignette experiments, Natural Language Processing, network analysis, and in-depth interviews.

Before coming to Columbia, I worked as a Senior Analyst at Mastercard International (New York and Shanghai). I received my M.A. in Sociology from the University of Chicago and my B.A. in History and Economics from Mount Holyoke College.

Contact

Feel free to contact me at: YiChen26@gsb.columbia.edu.