Kaylee Somerville

Biography

Kaylee’s research examines when and why leaders underinvest in the people they manage, with a focus on the psychological and relational barriers that prevent good leadership. A central theme in her work is how anticipated endings shape leader behaviour: when leaders know an employee’s time with the organization is limited, as with temporary or fixed-contract workers, they may invest less in development, support, resources, and relationship-building.

Kaylee also studies other moments when leader investment breaks down, including failures to express gratitude, rejecting aspiring leaders, responding to employee resignations, and leading while experiencing mental-health challenges. Across these contexts, she uses experiments, surveys, and intervention-oriented designs to identify barriers to effective leadership and develop low-cost tools that help leaders build more constructive relationships at work.

Kaylee’s supervisor is Dr. Julian Barling.

Educational Background

• Masters of Science in Management, Smith School of Business, Queen's University
• Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary

Published Papers

• Inness, M., Somerville, K., Lyubykh, Z., Turner, N., Kelloway, E. K., Barling, J., ... & Bygrave, C. E. (2026). Love of the Job: What it is, how to measure it, and why it matters for work outcomes. Human Resource Management. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.70055
• Vesper, D., Zickar, M. J., O’Brien, L., O’Neill, R., Dollard, M. F., Flynn, K., Fletcher, K., Stephenson, K., Ahr, T., Jost, J., Somerville, K., & Barling, J. (2025). Occupational health and labor unions. Occupational Health Science, 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41542-025-00233-2 
• Somerville, K. & Barling, J. (2023) The psychology of organizational leadership. In Peeters, M. C. W., de Jonge, J., & Taris, T. W. (Eds.), An Introduction to Contemporary Work Psychology. (2nd ed.) (pp. 347-367) Wiley-Blackwell.

Conferences & Presentations

• Somerville, K., & Pupco, S. (2024). The end is in sight: The impact of contract end-type on leader perceptions of contract workers. [Paper presentation]. 2024 Academy of Management Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, USA.

Awards & Honours

• PhD Student Research Excellence Award, Smith School of Business - 2026
• Queen’s MSc/PhD Graduate Award, Smith School of Business - 2026
• Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral (CGS-D), SSHRC, 2024-2027
• Kathryn Huget Leadership Award, Calgary Foundation, 2024
• New PhD Research Excellence Award, Smith School of Business, 2024
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Queen’s University, 2022, 2023
• Elizabeth Neave Fellowship, Smith School of Business, 2022
• Best Overall Paper, Best New Scholar, USASBE, 2022