Associate Professor Bechky is an ethnographer of work and occupations. Her research investigates how people accomplish their work as a means for generating theory about the relationships between social structures, work, and organizational outcomes. She is particularly interested in the cross-occupational interactions of technical workers. Recent studies have examined how workers in manufacturing use engineering drawings and prototype machines to negotiate occupational jurisdiction, how film crew members coordinate their work in temporary organizations, and how contract workers acquire jobs that stretch their skills in order to advance their careers.  

Bechky’s recent publications include “Gaffers, gofers, and grips: Role-based coordination in temporary organizations,” published in Organization Science; “Stretchwork: Managing the career progression paradox in external labor markets” (with Siobhan O’Mahony) in Academy of Management Journal; and “When collections of creatives become create collectives: A field study of problem solving at work” (with Andrew Hargadon) in Organization Science. 

Bechky received her PhD in organizational behavior from the department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management at Stanford University. She also holds a master of arts in Sociology from Stanford and a bachelor of science in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.