Melika Shirmohammadi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Human Resource Development
Office 340, Engineering Building 4
Phone 713-743-1770
Fax 713-743-4032
Email mshirmoh [at] central.uh.edu
Education
- Ph.D., Educational Human Resource Development, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, 2018
- Master of Science, Public Administration (concentration: Human Resource Management), University of Tehran, 2010
- Bachelor of Science, Public Administration, University of Tehran, 2007
Other Appointments
- Coordinator of the Human Resource Development Graduate Program
Classes
- HRD 3340: Principles of Human Resource Development
- HRD 6304: Applied Research Methods in Organizations
- HRD 6553: Methods of Adult Learning
- HRD 6603: Assessment and Evaluation in HRD
Research Interests
- Work–life integration and work–nonwork interface
- Careers in understudied and international contexts
- Career success and career outcomes
- Remote, hybrid, and home-based work
- Qualitative research
Current Research
My research examines how individuals build and sustain careers while navigating complex life circumstances. I study how work, family, and nonwork domains intersect over time, and how contextual forces such as policy, labor markets, and organizational practices enable or constrain people’s opportunities.
Currently, I lead and collaborate on projects that explore (a) international career transitions and biographical ruptures, (b) perceptions of productivity in hybrid and open plan workspaces, and (c) the remote and hybrid internship design containing and enriching learning and career readiness of college students. These projects are supported by internal and external grants.
Across these studies, I aim to generate evidence-based insights that help organizations design HRD practices that support meaningful, sustainable careers while respecting the realities of people’s lives beyond work.
Awards & Honors
Research
- Early Career Scholar Award, Academy of Human Resource Development, 2022
- Early Career Work and Family Fellowship, Work and Family Researchers Network (Sloan Foundation–funded), 2022
- Best Paper Award, Careers Division, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, 2021
- Best Paper Award, Careers Division, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, 2022
- Carolyn B. Dexter Award Nominee, Academy of Management, 2021
- Richard A. Swanson Research Excellence Award, Runner-up, Academy of Human Resource Development, 2022
- Top Cited Article 2021–2022, Human Resource Development Quarterly, 2022
- Most Cited and Downloaded Paper, Human Resource Development International, 2024
Teaching
- Teaching Excellence Award, College of Technology, University of Houston, 2022
Service
- Reviewer of the Year Award, Human Relations (journal), 2024
In Progress
- Internships in a changing work landscape: Supporting college students’ career development across traditional, hybrid, and remote formats.
- Perceived productivity in hybrid work contexts: A three-phase qualitative study.
- (Re)constructing careers amid biographical rupture in extreme contexts.
Under-Review/Revision
- Ayoobzadeh, M., Shirmohammadi, M., & Beigi, M. Making sense of contemporary careers: A systematic review. Revise and resubmit.
- Beigi, M., Shirmohammadi, M., Araci, O., Au, W. C., Ayoobzadeh, M., Prakasam, N., Parry, J., & Zhang, L. Workspace inclusivity in the hybrid era: A qualitative study of open-plan offices. Under review.
Selected Published/In Press
- Shirmohammadi, M., Ayoobzadeh, M., Beigi, M., & Arthur, M. (2025). The intelligent careers framework: A review of the literature and future research directions. Career Development International. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-04-2025-0172
- Beigi, M., Shirmohammadi, M., Ayoobzadeh, M., Hedayati Mehdiabadi, A., Au, W. C., Wang, H., Xu, Q., Yu, Y., Parry, J., & Whitburn, B. (2025). Career success and minority status: A review and conceptual framework. Journal of Management. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063251342190
- Ayoobzadeh, M., Beigi, M., & Shirmohammadi, M. (2025). Learning by gaming: Nonwork-to-work enrichment among successful massive multiplayer online gamers. Human Resource Development International, 28(3), 446–475. https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2024.2404818
- Beigi, M., Shirmohammadi, M., Au, W., & Tochia, C. (2024). We were all in it together: Managing work from home as dual-earner households with school-age children. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 45(4), 539–557. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2755
- Shirmohammadi, M., Ayoobzadeh, M., & Beigi, M. (2023). Finding a home for your career away from home: Experiences of Iranian highly skilled edu-immigrants in the United States. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 143, 103874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2023.103874
- Shirmohammadi, M., Beigi, M., & Au, W. C. (2023). Who moved my boundary? Strategies adopted by families working from home. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 143, 103866. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2023.103866
- Shirmohammadi, M., Beigi, M., & Richardson, J. (2023). Subjective well-being among blue-collar immigrant employees: A systematic literature review. Human Resource Management Review, 33(1), 100914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2022.100914
- Shirmohammadi, M., Au, W. C., & Beigi, M. (2022). Antecedents and outcomes of work–life balance while working from home: A review of the research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Human Resource Development Review, 21(4), 473–516. https://doi.org/10.1177/15344843221125834
- Shirmohammadi, M., Au, W. C., & Beigi, M. (2022). Remote work and work–life balance: Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and suggestions for HRD practitioners. Human Resource Development International, 25(2), 163–181. https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2022.2047380
- Shirmohammadi, M., Hedayati Mehdiabadi, A., Beigi, M., & McLean, G. (2021). Mapping human resource development: Visualizing the past, bridging the gaps, and moving toward the future. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 32(2), 197–224. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21415
- Shirmohammadi, M., Beigi, M., & Stewart, J. (2019). Understanding skilled migrants’ employment in the host country: A multidisciplinary review and a conceptual model. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 30(1), 96–121. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2018.1511615