Professor Stephan's research focuses on the economics of science and the careers of scientists and engineers. Recent work examines how bibliometric measures discourage risk taking in science, the relationship between international mobility and scientific productivity, how gender pairing between student and advisor relates to the productivity of PhD recipients and the economics of the postdoctoral position. She is the author of How Economics Shapes Science and co-author of Striking the Mother Lode in Science. She serves on the National Academies Committee on the Next Generation of Researchers, and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and member of the Board of Reviewing Editors, Science.  She was named ScienceCareers’ first Person of the Year in 2012.