Assistant Professor of Business Cassondra Batz-Barbarich and recent graduate Farhan Ahmed have received the 2025 Best Paper Award from the Journal of Personnel Psychology for their research published in the journal last year.
Deborah Powell, editor in chief of the Journal of Personnel Psychology, announced the award. She noted that associate editors commended the paper for being “well executed,” having both practical and theoretical impact, and addressing a highly topical issue in the modern workplace. The award was determined by a subcommittee of editors who reviewed all papers published during 2025.
The paper, titled “Do Words Matter? The Impact of Communal and Agentic Language on Women’s Application to Job Opportunities,” explores how job advertisement language affects women’s perceptions of workplace fit and their likelihood to apply for open positions. The study compares communal language, which emphasizes collaboration and support, with agentic language, which highlights competition and independence.
Findings indicate that job ads using agentic language attract fewer female applicants. However, this effect disappears when considering the gender composition of the industry, pointing to a complex relationship between language, workplace culture, and gender norms.
The project began as part of Lake Forest College’s Richter Scholar Program, reflecting the college’s focus on undergraduate research experiences and mentorship. Assistant Professor of Management Nicole Strah from UNC Charlotte’s Belk College of Business also contributed as a co-author.
“To see a project that began as a Richter research idea become a published work named the year’s best paper in an academic journal is incredibly rewarding,” Batz-Barbarich said. “It highlights the exceptional students Lake Forest College attracts and the unique opportunity to work closely with them as co-creators of knowledge. This is what truly meaningful research looks like—having impact not only through the work itself, but through the process of creating it.”
The Journal of Personnel Psychology is an international peer-reviewed publication focused on psychological research related to workplaces. Its annual Best Paper Award recognizes outstanding scholarship advancing understanding in this field.
This recognition places Batz-Barbarich and Ahmed’s work among the most significant contributions published by the journal in 2025 and underscores Lake Forest College’s commitment to collaborative faculty–student research.
