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College of Business

Xian Cao

Assistant Professor
Department of Management
Office
SFHB State Farm Hall Of Business 250
Office Phone
(309) 438-7205office
phone
Email
xcao2@ilstu.eduemail
  • About
  • Education
  • Awards & Honors
  • Research

Biography

Xian received her Ph.D. in Strategic Management with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from the University of Connecticut. Living in Champaign with her family, she is the proud mother of two wonderful children, Leo and Lia. A passionate traveler, Xian relishes the opportunity to explore new places and cultures.

Current Courses

MGT 226.001 Corporate Entrepreneurship

MGT 226.002 Corporate Entrepreneurship

MGT 326.001 Small Business Field Studies

MGT 226.001 Corporate Entrepreneurship

MGT 226.002 Corporate Entrepreneurship

MGT 326.001 Small Business Field Studies

Teaching Interests & Areas

She teaches courses in entrepreneurship and strategic management, integrating her research interests which focus on female entrepreneurs, the motivations behind entrepreneurship, social media, and research methods.

Research Interests & Areas

Her scholarly work has been published in respected journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Decision Support Systems, Small Business Economics, Journal of Small Business Management, Group & Organization Management, and Personality and Individual Differences. Xian also serves as an ad-hoc reviewer for multiple academic journals.

PhD Strategic Management

The University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT

MBA Business Administration

The Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, Ohio

Bachelor of Arts International Economics and Trade

Nanjing University
Nanjing, China

Best Student Paper Award

2024 Midwest Academy of Management
2024

Best Paper Nominee

Midwest Academy of Management
2021

Diversity Scholarship Recognition

The Ball State University Office of Inclusive Excellence
2019

Evidence From the Kauffman Firm Survey, The Honorarium Award

The Small Business Economics Special Issue in Entrepreneurial Dynamics
2017

Grants & Contracts

COB University Research Grant. College of Business. Illinois State University. (2025)
Summer Assessment Grant. Ball State University. Other. (2023)

Journal Article

Cao, X., Li, H., Xu, Q., & Zhu, R. Detecting Gender Stereotypes against Women Entrepreneurs in Large Language Models. Journal of Business Ethics (2025)
Cao, X., Folta, T., Li, H., & Zhu, R. Analyzing the online word of mouth dynamics: A novel approach. Decision Support Systems 185.114306 (2024)
Hsu, D., Mitchell, R., & Cao, X. Examining Psychological Mediators in Entrepreneurship: Experimental Designs, Remedies, and Recommendations. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 48.1 (2023)
Cao, X., Im, J., & Syed, I. A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Chief Executive Officer Tenure and Firm Financial Performance: The Moderating Effects of Chief Executive Officer Pay and Board Monitoring. Group & Organization Management 46.3 (2021)
Syed, I., Butler, J., Smith, R., & Cao, X. From entrepreneurial passion to entrepreneurial intentions: The role of entrepreneurial passion, innovativeness, and curiosity in driving entrepreneurial intentions. Personality and Individual Differences 157 (2020)

Written Case with Instructional Material

Cao, X., Li, H., Folta, T., & Zhu, R. From Problem to Method: Designing Multiview Sequential Canonical Covariance Analysis for Online Word-of-Mouth Dynamics. Sage Research Methods (2025)
Cao, X., Hsu, D., & Mitchell, R. How to Test Psychological Mediators in Entrepreneurship Using Experiments. Sage Business Cases (2025)

Presentations

Still Drinking From a Firehose: Teaching With AI 2025 Edition. Midwest Academy of Management. (2025)
Detecting Gender Stereotypes in Large Language Models. Midwest Academy of Management. (2024)
Drinking From a Firehose: Teaching With and About AI. Midwest Academy of Management. (2024)
Excellence in Teaching: A Panel Discussion on Innovative Strategies for Effective Teaching. Midwest Academy of Management. (2024)
ChatGPT is my Teaching Assistant. Midwest Academy of Management. (2023)
Venting on Social Media and Social Support for Entrepreneurs: The Mediation Effect of Gender-Venting Congruity. Academy of Management. (2023)
Analyzing Big Data in Entrepreneurship: Replicating and Extending Evans and Leighton (1989) Using a Machine Learning Approach. Academy of Management. (2022)
Gender Stereotypes and Social Support in the Digital Entrepreneurial Community. Midwest Academy of Management. (2022)
A New Method to Understand the Online Word of Mouth Dynamics: Multi-view Sequential Canonical Covariance Analysis. Midwest Academy of Management. (2021)
A New Method to Understand the Online Word of Mouth Dynamics: Multi-view Sequential Canonical Covariance Analysis. Academy of Management. (2020)