Dr. O'Meara conducts research on organizational practices that facilitate the full participation of diverse faculty and the legitimacy of diverse scholarship in the academy. She studies organizational policies, practices and cultures with an eye toward changing them to be more inclusive, equitable, and agency-enhancing for all faculty. Her recent work examines how work environments and reward systems enhance faculty agency and influence departure, the role of peer networks in advancing equity and inclusion, and gender equity in workload and distribution of campus service. Her work has been published in the Journal of Higher Education, Review of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education and Gender and Education, among other venues. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, Kettering Foundation, Luce Foundation, College Board, former American Association of Higher Education (AAHE), American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), and Teagle Foundation. She serves on the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Higher Education and as Associate Editor of the Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning. KerryAnn regularly consults with campuses on revision of reward system policies to support multiple forms of scholarship, gender equity reform, faculty development and engaged scholarship.
