Prof. Sharon Toker

Coller School of Management
הפקולטה לניהול ע"ש קולר סגל אקדמי בכיר

Short Biography

Sharon Toker is an Associate Professor and the head of the Healthcare Management program at Tel Aviv University’s Coller School of Management.

She graduated from Tel Aviv University, completing her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology (1997) and her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior with distinction (Accelerated Doctoral Program, 2007). In 2008 she completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University and soon after joined the Department of Organizational Behavior in Tel Aviv University’s Coller School of Management.

Prof. Toker served as the associate editor of the Academy of Management Perspectives Journal and the Occupational Health Science Journal. She has published more than 40 papers and book chapters and was awarded the Early Career Achievement Award by the American Psychological Association (APA) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) in 2013.

Sharon teaches Organizational Behavior and Stress Management courses, and was granted numerous teaching awards including the Tel-Aviv University Rector Award (2013), Tel-Aviv University best 100 lecturers awards, and the Coller School of Management teaching awards in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 & 2021.

In addition to her academic activity, Prof. Toker is an active advocate for employees' wellbeing. She is working with the Israeli Ministry of Health and with the Ministry of Law to reduce employees' burnout levels.

Last but not least, Sharon is also an illustrator, translating her research findings into visual images. Her illustrations appear in both academic and non-academic outlets. Instagram: sharon_toker 

Fields of Research

Prof. Toker’s research strives to discover the extent to which occupational and environmental factors, stress perceptions, and organizational resources affect the physical and mental wellbeing of employees. By combining various areas of knowledge such as occupational psychology, cognition, and medicine, in addition to conducting experimental as well as observational longitudinal studies among thousands of employees, she points to the risk involved in exposure to occupational and environmental stressors (including the fear of terrorism). She also strives to identify effective ways of coping with such risks. Her studies combine new models and constructs that are at the forefront of current psycho-occupational research (e.g., stress perceptions and mind wandering). As an expert in the field of work stress and health, Prof. Toker’s research serves as the basis for policy change on both national and international scales. 

 

Focal topics of Prof. Toker’s research include:

>> Stress, burnout, and employee health

>> Stress theory, perception, and mindset

>> Mind wandering at work

>> Health promotion in organizations

>>  Gender inequality at work

>>  Organizational cynicism 

Publications

How stressors, burnout & depression affect our health:

Media Coverage:

The Atlantic-13 Mar 2013, Study: Job Burnout Associated With a 79% Increased Risk of Heart Disease.

Metro-14 Mar 2013, Burnout 'is a bigger heart attack risk than smoking'

**************************************************************************************************************

The role of the organization in supporting employees' wellbeing:

Media Coverage:

Science Daily-16 Dec 2014, Worksite health promotion programs: Why don't people don't participate?.

 

*************************************************************************************************************

                                                                                                         

Mind-wandering at work:

 

  • Yaor, E., & Toker, S. (In press). Mind Wandering at Work: When employees’ thoughts drift away. In Perrewé, P. & Meurs, J. (Eds.), Stress and Quality of Working Life. Information Age Publishing.  

 

**************************************************************************************************************

 

Perceiving others' stress:

Media Coverage:

Science Daily-13 Nov 2017, How well do we perceive other people's stress levels in the workplace.

Psychology Today (blog)-5 Jun 2018, 8 Ways to Test Your Stress Mindset

PsychCentral.com-14 Nov 2017, Many Project Their Feelings About Stress Onto Others

From the Grapevine-27 Nov 2017, Why you should think twice before bringing holiday stress to work.

 

**************************************************************************************************************

Physical activity can help: 

**************************************************************************************************************

The importance of social support at work:

Media Coverage:

PsychCentral.com-22 Feb 2019, Women's Social Support Tied to Mortality Risk

FM100.3-7 Jun 2019, Work relationships affect your health, study says

Telegraph.co.uk-5 Aug 2011, Getting along with colleagues helps you live longer

**************************************************************************************************************

Gender inequalities:

                                      

Media coverage:

Science Daily-22 Nov 2016, 'Nice' women earn less than their more assertive counterparts

Quartz-28 Nov 2016, New research confirms that it pays to be a nasty woman

International Business Times UK-22 Nov 2016, Women – being nice at work means you get paid less

Globalnews.ca-23 Nov 2016, Nice gals finish last: Agreeable women earn less money, says study.

 **************************************************************************************************************

The protective effect of positive psychology:

**************************************************************************************************************

·     The effect of fear of terror on our health

**************************************************************************************************************

Inflammation biomarkers:

Tel Aviv University makes every effort to respect copyright. If you own copyright to the content contained
here and / or the use of such content is in your opinion infringing, Contact us as soon as possible >>