Faculty and Staff Profile

Surabhi Sahay

Educational Background

2017 Rutgers University Ph.D. Communication

2012 Rutgers University M.A. Communication and Information Studies

2009 Temple University B.A. Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media

Courses Taught

Clemson University
Academic & Professional Dev I
Academic & Professional Dev II

PSU
Communication Research Methods
Organizational Communication
Change Communication
Crisis and Risk Communication
Effective Speech
Internship

Rutgers University
Virtual Team Dynamics

Profile

Surabhi Sahay (Ph.D., Rutgers University) is an Associate Professor of Communication at Clemson University, USA. She has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar to India, where her research focuses on women’s health, particularly maternal health and health equity. Her broader research examines workplace participation, organizational change, resilience, resistance, and crisis communication, with a particular emphasis on healthcare and organizational contexts. She is the author of an upcoming book on nurses’ experiences of resilience in healthcare, forthcoming from Johns Hopkins University Press.

Research Interests

Dr. Sahay studies stakeholder participation during periods of disruption, including planned organizational change and crises, in healthcare and other contexts. She employs both qualitative and quantitative methods to examine how individuals perceive opportunities for participation and how they ultimately engage in these situations. Her research explores key topics including voice, resistance, resilience, and organizational listening. Drawing on sensemaking theory, she has examined key improvisations made by nurses during the initial phase of COVID-19. She has also explored the role of both formal and informal participation as mechanisms for sensegiving and sensebreaking.

Research Publications

Peer Reviewed Publications

Sahay, S., & Dwyer, M (2025). Navigating Community Resistance Efforts and
Participation through Sensegiving and Sensebreaking. Communication and
Democracy, 59(2), 401-425. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/27671127.2025.2548593

Zorn, T., Lelkes, Y., Zhou, A., Putnam, L., May, S., Stohl, M., Lewis, L, & Sahay,
S., (2025). Political polarization and communication in the workplace.
Management Communication Quarterly, 39(4), 739-783. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/08933189251344607

Lewis, L., Sahay, S. & Hayward, P. (2025). Teaching Listening across Curriculum.
Management Communication Quarterly (Invited- Peer Reviewed), 40(1), 5-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/08933189251342588

Sahay, S., & Goldthwaite, C. (2023). Participatory Practices During Organizational
Change: Rethinking Participation and Resistance. Management Communication Quarterly, 38(2), 207-412. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/08933189231187883
(Most read paper in Management Communication Quarterly)

Dwyer, M. & Sahay, S. (2023). Hiring College and University Presidents:
Communication, Agency, and Culture. International Journal of Leadership in Education. Advance online publication. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2023.2264254

Sahay, S., & Dwyer, M. (2022). I am not a “hero”: Nurses’ perspectives on COVID-
19 framing. Health Communication, 38(12), 2537-2548. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2022.2088021

Dwyer, M. & Sahay, S. (2022). Advancing women to the presidency in higher
education: Communication competencies and gender. Journal of Research on the College President, 6(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.54119/jrcp.2022.601

Sahay, S., Gigliotti, R.A., & Dwyer, M. (2022). Role conflict, job crafting, stress, and
resilience among nurses during COVID-19. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 30(3), 234-243. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.12417

Sahay, S., & Wei, W. (2022). “Everything is changing, but I am not alone”: Nurses’
perceptions of social support during COVID-19. Sustainability, 14(6), 3262. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063262

Sahay, S., & Dwyer, M. (2021). Emergent organizing in crisis: US nurses’
sensemaking and job crafting during COVID-19. Management Communication Quarterly, 35(4), 546-557. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/08933189211034170

Sahay, S. (2021). Organizational listening during organizational change: Perspectives
of employees and executives. International Journal of Listening, 37(1), 12-25.DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10904018.2021.1941029

Sahay, S., & Wei, W. (2021). Work-family balance and managing spillover effects
for nurses. Health Communication, 38(1), 1-10 DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2021.1923155

Scott, C., & Sahay, S. (2018). Hide and don't seek: Analyzing strategies for
concealing organizations and their members. The Atlantic Journal of Communication, 26(3), 131-148. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2018.1472091

Sahay, S., Dwyer, M., Scott, C., Dadlani, P., & McKinley, E. (2017). Organizations
in hiding: Appropriateness, effectiveness, and motivations for concealment. The Electronic Journal of Communication, 27(1-2). Published online (E-publication). http://www.cios.org/www/ejc/v27n12toc.htm.

Dwyer, M., Sahay, S., Scott, C., Dadlani, P., & McKinley, E. (2017). Technologies
of concealment: Appropriateness, effectiveness, and motivations for hiding organizational identity. Western Journal of Communication, 82(2), 194-216. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2017.1302096

Invited Publications

Sahay, S., Buzzanell, P., Bean, H., Kuang, K., & Betts, T. (2026).
Momentum: Emergent Resilience and Organizational Communication. Management Communication Quarterly.

Book Chapters and Encyclopedia Entries

Book Chapters

Lewis, L., & Sahay, S. (2024). Stakeholders and organizational change. In Miller, V., & Poole, M. (Eds.), The Handbook of Organizational Communication Theory and Research. De Gruyter Press. p. 259-275

Lewis, L., Sahay, S. (2024). Role of contemporary communication technologies for listening to stakeholders. In Ndlela, M. (Ed.) Organizational Communication in the Digital Era: Examining the Impact of AI, Chatbots, and Covid-19. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 97-114

Lewis, L., & Sahay, S. (2019). Change and change management. In J. McDonald & R. Mitra (Eds.), Movements in organizational communication research. Routledge. p. 214-232.

Aakhus, M., Dadlani, P., Gigliotti, R., Goldwaithe, C., Kosterich, A., & Sahay, S. (2016). Communication expertise as organizational practice: Competing ideas about communication in the market for solutions. In J. Treem & P. Leonardi (Eds.), Expertise, communication and organizing. Oxford University Press. p. 189-209.

Gigliotti, R., Agnew, B., Goldthwaite, C., Sahay, S., Dwyer, M., & Ruben, B. (2016). Scholar-in-training; leader-in-training: the Rutgers University Predoctoral Leadership Development Institute. In P. Blessinger & D. Stockley (Eds.), Emerging directions in doctoral leadership. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. p. 39-59.

Encyclopedia Entries

Lewis, L., & Sahay, S. (2018). Change Communication. In R. Heath & W. Johanssen (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of strategic communication. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 127-139.

Lewis, L., & Sahay, S. (2017). Organizational change. In C. Scott & L. Lewis (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of organizational communication. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 221- 242.

Honors and Awards

Academic Awards and Grants

Fulbright Scholar Award to India “Maternal Health and Agency Regarding Cesarean Section in India: A Qualitative Study of Patient, Provider, and Community Perspectives" (2026 Flex)

Outstanding Research Fellowship at PSU-Abington (2022-2023)

Academic Recognitions

Recipient of Penn State University-Abington College Faculty Award for Scholarly and Creative Accomplishments (2025-2026)

Finalist for MCQ Article of the year (2022)

Top Four Paper, NCA, Organizational Communication division (2021)

Links