Susan
J.
Simkins (formerly Mohammed)
Professor of Psychology
Director of Team Science for the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI)
Moore Building
University Park, Pa 16802
(814) 863-7387
Education
Ph. D., Ohio State University, 1996
Professional Bio
Research Interests
Dr. Susan Simkins is Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at the Pennsylvania State University and Director of the TCaT (Teams, Cognition, and Time) research lab. For the past three decades, she has investigated the drivers of effective teamwork and performance in two primary areas: team cognition and team composition. A central question of her research is: How do team members “get on the same page” about the “what, how, who, and when” of their collective work, especially when they differ on demographics, personality, expertise, and temporal orientation? Her recent research on human-robot teaming examines how to onboard robots in teams so that members develop an accurate, shared, and updated understanding of robot capabilities. Secondary research topics include leadership and decision making. In collaboration with colleagues, Dr. Simkins has secured over $5.8 million in grant funding. Dr. Simkins is a fellow of the Association of Psychological Science and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
Interdisciplinary Grant-Funded Research
Dr. Simkins’ work has a strong interdisciplinary focus, in which she works closely with collaborators from various fields, including engineering, medicine, construction, and robotics. She also conducts research on interdisciplinary teams. The National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Office for Naval Research fund Dr. Simkins’ work. Current grant-funded projects involve:
- onboarding robots in student nursing simulation teams and laboratory teams so that human members develop an accurate understanding of robot capabilities and how to coordinate effectively with robots
- identifying tasks associated with higher satisfaction and engagement for carpenters in the construction industry so that less engaging tasks can be assigned to robots
- investigating how to promote psychological safety (shared belief that team members will not be humiliated for asking questions, raising concerns, or admitting mistakes) in:
- hospital medical intensive care units
- engineering design student teams from freshman to senior year
Integrating Science and Practice
Using an evidence-based approach grounded in the team literature and her own research, Dr. Simkins applies the science of effective teamwork to the practice of helping members improve their team processes and performance. As the Team Science Lead for the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute, she merges science and practice by educating and consulting with team leaders and members on improving their team dynamics.
Selected Publications
- Rico, R., Antino, M., Gibson, C., Simkins, S., & Uitdewilligen, S. (accepted). Putting
out the fires: The role of team knowledge, coordination and procedural rigidity in
adapting and performing during disruptive events. Organization Science.
- Basore, C., Mohammed, S., Tirrell, B., Marhefka, J., Hamilton, K., Zhang, T., Davis, C., Hong, H., Liao, X. & Miller, G. (2025). Post-award grant collaboration: Facilitators and hindrances to cross-disciplinary authorship. Frontiers in Education, 9, 1-18, 1400595. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1400595
- Mohammed, S., Hamilton, K., Marhefka, J., Tirrell, B., Davis, C., & Hong, H. (2023). To share or not to share: Knowledge divergence and convergence in cross-disciplinary collaboration. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 23(3), 60-87.
- Cole, C., Jablokow, K., Mohammed, S., & Miller, S. (2023). The impact of gender on individual perceptions and team psychological safety in engineering design teams in education. Journal of Mechanical Design, 145(3), 1-11. American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
- Williamson, J. A., Mohammed, S., McKay, A. S., & Angell, L. C. (2023). Rags and
riches: The effects of social class diversity on team viability. Small Group Research,
54(5), 599-638.
- Mohammed, S., & Schillinger, D. (2021). Translating time-based research into team
interventions: An actionable, evidence-based approach. Journal of Clinical and
Translational Science, 6: e2, 1-7.
Conceptual Integration and Network Configurations. Academy of Management Annals,
15(2), 455-501.
- Alipour, K., Mohammed, S., & Raghuram, S. (2018). Differences in the valuing of
power values among team members: A contingency approach toward examining
the effects of power values diversity and relationship conflict. Journal of Business
and Psychology, 33, 231-247. DOI 10.1007/s10869-017-9488- 7.
- Tesler, R., Mohammed, S., Hamilton, K., Mancuso, V., & McNeese, M. (2017). Mirror, mirror: Guided storytelling and team reflexivity’s influence on team mental models. Small Group Research, 1-39. doi: 10.1177/1046496417722025
- Mohammed, S., Alipour, K., Martinez, P., Livert, D., & Fitzgerald, D. (2017). Conflict in the Kitchen: Temporal diversity and temporal disagreements in chef teams. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 21(1), 1-19.
- Hamilton, K., Shih, S., & Mohammed, S. (2016). The development and validation of a rational and intuitive decision style scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 98(5), 523-535. DOI: 10.1080/00223891.2015.1132426
- Mohammed, S., Hamilton, K., Tesler, R., Mancuso, V., & McNeese, M. (2015). Time for temporal team mental models: Expanding beyond “what” and “how” to incorporate “when,” European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology (special issue, dynamics of Team Adaptation and Cognition), 24 (5), 693-709.
- Mohammed, S., & Nadkarni, S. (2014). Are we all on the same temporal page? The
moderating effects of temporal team cognition on the polychronicity diversity-team performance relationship. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(3), 404-422.
- Mohammed, S., & Harrison, D. (2013). The clocks that time us are not the same: A
theory of temporal diversity, task characteristics, and performance in teams. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 122(2), 244-256.
- Mohammed, S., & Nadkarni, S. (2011). Temporal diversity and team
performance: The moderating role of temporal leadership. Academy of
Management Journal, 54(3), 489-508.
