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About Dawn
Dawn Adams-Harmon, Ph.D., serves as Lecturer II in the Department of Management within Kean University’s College of Business and Public Management, teaching full-time at the Kean Skylands campus in Jefferson. She earned a B.S. in Marketing and Psychology, an MBA in Management, and a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership. Before entering academia, Adams-Harmon built a 25-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, rising to Director of Leadership Development at Pfizer and holding executive leadership roles at Merck. She began teaching at the collegiate level in 2005, delivering courses both online and in-person, including Business Ethics, Principles of Management, Organizational Behavior, and International Management. She started at Kean as an adjunct instructor during her doctoral dissertation process.
Adams-Harmon’s research centers on marginalized groups, examining barriers to career advancement for women and minorities, particularly in STEM fields, and strategies to build resilience, self-efficacy, and locus of control. She originated the “360-Degree Gender Sphere” theory, which portrays the encapsulating barriers women face—gendered structures, self-standards, direct managers, peers, family responsibilities, and societal norms—beyond the one-dimensional glass ceiling, especially in healthcare and pharmaceuticals. The theory pairs these six barriers with six success strategies: sponsorship, mentorship, leadership development, flexibility, networking, and self-branding. Her seminal publication on female leaders in pharmaceuticals appeared in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (2020, with Greer-Williams). Recent works include “Challenges for Creating Resilience in Minorities and Female Workers, and the Role of Flexibility in Work Environments” (SocioEconomic Challenges, 2024, with Lewis and Yun), “The 360-Degree Gender Sphere and the Six Strategies to Create Resilience” (Global Insights on Women Empowerment and Leadership, 2024), “The Intersectionality Experiences of Executive, Female Minorities Ascending in STEM” (SocioEconomic Challenges, 2024), and “Inspirational Book Reading: The Changes in Self-Efficacy and Locus of Control in Minority Students” (Land Forces Academy Review, 2024, with Kim). She presented at the National Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Annual Conference, reaching audiences in over 15 countries, and developed a two-day workshop on resilience strategies for pharmaceutical companies and international groups. Adams-Harmon contributes to Kean’s Distance Learning Committee as KFT Representative and is a candidate for University Senate.