Beth A. Bechky is Assistant Professor of Management at the Graduate School of Management, University of California, Davis. She is an ethnographer of work and occupations. She studies the work activities of professional, technical, and knowledge workers in order to understand the changing nature of postindustrial work and its theoretical and practical implications for how we manage organizations. Her recent studies have examined how workers in manufacturing use engineering drawings and prototype machines to solve problems, how film crew members learn and coordinate their work in temporary organizations, and how contract workers acquire jobs that stretch their skills in order to advance their careers. She received her Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management at Stanford University. She holds an M.A. in Sociology from Stanford University and a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. Her research is published in leading journals of management and sociology such as Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, and American Journal of Sociology.