Shaun Parkinson’s Journey From Plasma Center to PhD

By Eric Hollenbeck

Shaun Parkinson’s journey to WSU’s Carson College of Business didn’t happen in one fluid motion. After earning his bachelor’s degree in exercise science at Brigham Young University, Parkinson initially saw himself working in the medical field. However, a job at a plasma donation center opened his eyes to a different path.

“I started working at a Grifols Plasma Collection Center in Utah around the same time I was trying to get job shadowing hours with doctors,” he says. “I was looking at medical school, and those hours are important for applications.”

But as time went on, promotion and managerial opportunities steered Parkinson toward a new path in managerial leadership and, eventually, research.

“What interested me in the medical field was wanting to help people,” he says. “But because of the hyper-focus on efficiency, it was like a conveyor belt of patients, and I didn’t love the feel that provided.”

Within six months, Parkinson advanced to a junior manager position in the Grifols quality assurance department. He says it was the team dynamics within that department that affirmed he was on the right path. Working in this new, higher-level position, he noticed his coworkers were more engaged.

“I really enjoyed working with these people who were smart and solving problems together,” Parkinson says. “So, I decided to skip medical school and stay on and work for the company in a managerial capacity.”

As Parkinson moved into managing the company’s largest nonborder plasma center, he went on to earn his MBA at Utah State University and began to work on projects and dive into managerial decision-making research topics.

A newfound interest in research and understanding of management and employee relations led Parkinson to pursue a PhD at WSU, where he felt he could balance rigorous academic work with a supportive family environment.

Diving into research

Now in his final year of the Carson College doctoral program, Parkinson studies how employee values contribute to workplace behaviors. In early 2024, a research paper he coauthored was published in the prestigious Academy of Management Journal. “Does Identification Hurt or Help Under Identity Threat?” explores how people react when they experience threats to identities in the workplace.

The researchers used online surveys to study political identity and working parent identity. According to their findings, “identity centrality” is how crucial an identity is to how people view themselves. “For instance, if being a working parent is a big part of who you are, criticisms or challenges related to this identity can feel very personal and offensive,” says Parkinson.

Findings suggest when someone’s sense of who they are (identity) is important to them, feeling like it’s under attack can make them react more strongly. This might mean they start criticizing or avoiding whoever or whatever made them feel threatened. On the other hand, feeling connected to others (solidarity) can help soften these negative reactions.

According to Parkinson, organizations could improve team dynamics in the workplace by finding ways to bolster unity. Rather than just acknowledging and creating spaces for different identities within your organization, he says it’s also important to focus on commonalities.

“If managers and team leaders focus on and take steps to increase the solidarity of their coworkers, then we should see less of these ‘identity protection responses,’” he says, which should decrease the amount of negative conflict in the workplace.

The Carson College experience

Shaun speaks highly of his time at the Carson College, particularly the mentorship and support from a few key faculty members.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better place,” he says.

He says he’s particularly grateful to Associate Professor Jeremy Beus and Assistant Professor Hana Johnson, both in the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship. Johnson was the lead author on the aforementioned identity threat paper.

“Without her mentorship, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to be part of such impactful research early in my PhD program,” he says.

Looking Ahead

As Parkinson prepares to graduate next spring, he is applying to universities across the country, seeking a tenure-track position where he can continue his research and contribute to academia.

He plans to continue his research on organizational behavior, focusing on ethics and morality in the workplace. He says he wants to help organizations create environments where employees can be more tolerant of diverse viewpoints.

Parkinson’s advice to future PhD students is to value their unique experiences.

“Your background can add more to the discussion than you might think,” he says.