Sydney Graham, Ph.D. 

Dr. Sydney Graham has a doctoral degree in organizational communication from the University of Missouri's Department of Communication. She is interested in how individuals communicate who they are and what they do as means for understanding workplace motivation, productivity, and fostering healthy organizational cultures. Sydney's focus on applied and practical research has specific implications for training and development programs, employee onboarding, and organizational culture change. Her work sits at the intersections of learning and development, HR, and applied social science.

Sydney's research has investigated the relationship between stigma, identity, and gender in both organizational and occupational contexts as well as the role of Generative AI in new employee experiences. Sydney’s published research explores topics of identity crafting and stigma management in the context of legal sex work in Nevada. Her ongoing projects investigate tensions of occupational, organizational, and industry stigma, work identities, and the relationship between organizational policies and social/cultural discourses. Sydney's dissertation is a post-intentional phenomenological study examining industry stigma and gendered, religious, and neoliberal discourses in the context of multilevel marketing.

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In addition to her academic research, Sydney previously completed a research internship at Microsoft where she worked with interdisciplinary researchers and used mixed methods to study generative AI and new employee productivity. Her internship was a partnership between Microsoft Research and Microsoft Experiences and Devices and the results had direct application to Microsoft's product teams. In this role, she used communication and identity theorizing to understand how new employees use Generative AI to become integrated and productive team members. She also recently worked as a Qualitative Research Analyst on an organizational culture assessment project with the Jamison Agency. In partnership with the agency founder, she analyzed over 500 open-ended surveys as well as considered interview and focus group transcripts to develop an organizational change management plan for the client.

Sydney's work is published in Communication Studies and she has co-authored several book chapters. She has also presented at national and international communication conferences including the National Communication Association (NCA) and Central States Communication Association (CSCA) conferences as well as the international conference, “Prostitution in Nevada and the Basque Country.” In 2024, she was awarded a Top Student Research Paper Award in the Organizational Communication Division at the annual National Communication Association Convention.

At the University of Missouri, Sydney taught Organizational Advocacy, Business and Professional Communication, and Public Speaking courses. She also worked with the Trulaske EDGE program's Advanced Professional Development course in Mizzou's Trulaske School of Business. In 2023, Sydney was awarded the Writing Intensive Teaching Excellence Award by the University of Missouri Campus Writing Program and the Outstanding Graduate Teacher Award as voted on by the Association of Communication Graduate Students.  

During her time as a graduate student at the University of Missouri, Sydney served as the President, Vice President, and Secretary of the Association of Communication Graduate Students and co-chair of the Social and Awards and Policy committees.  

Regarding professional experience, Sydney has facilitated many professional trainings on topics such as inclusive organizational communication and public speaking. In 2023, she served as a Summer Communications Associate for Heart of Missouri United Way. In this position, Sydney interviewed nonprofit agency partners and drafted communications for the organization’s website and newsletter. Prior to beginning the doctoral program at Mizzou, Sydney worked in communications and social media for a private museum in Washington, D.C.