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Calculated Confidence

Posted on July 28, 2026 by Amanda Akey
Amanda Akey

A woman with long strawberry-blonde hair and black-framed glasses wearing a vibrant green top with puffed sleeves, smiling at the camera in front of a blue electronic dashboard displaying data charts and graphs. data-lightbox='featured'

"I know you're not hiring, but you should hire me anyway."

Dr. Misty A. Sabol wrote the above email to the dean of the Mitchell College of Business five years ago. This bold move opened the door to her current role as an assistant professor in the Department of Marketing, Supply Chain Management and Analytics.

Prior to teaching in higher education, Sabol worked as a stock analyst specializing in global equity tax withholding. Her industry background shapes her philosophy on education and technology.

Sabol wants her students to have a good relationship with math and statistics. She believes that their career success will hinge on their data fluency and use of quantitative tools. “Teaching students how to apply and explain the results from their use of technology is what sets us apart from machines,” she says.

She challenges students to engage with emerging technologies and unfamiliar tools, pushing them to learn by doing and troubleshooting independently. “It’s really to build that technological confidence for when they encounter information systems that they’ve never seen before in the workplace,” she says. “People who are good at grasping technology are going to be able to be successful in any job. I’m really just trying to train them to be problem solvers.”

The emphasis on innovation and technology extends to her research. Currently, Sabol is applying the structural equation modeling technique to classic statistical problems to create more sophisticated models. Her research also delves into how people innovate at work and how they interact with information systems. A current paper investigates hiring managers’ perceptions of applicants who use ChatGPT during the interview process.

As a leading female academic in the fields of science, technology, engineering, math and artificial intelligence, she encourages women to engage with generative AI tools.

“We need to make sure that we’re using and interacting with these new tools at the same rate and frequency as our male counterparts. ... Because we need our data to be trained in the models so that our experiences and perspectives can be reflected.” Sabol says she personally uses AI to help her accomplish simple tasks in order to improve her work-life balance.

The Mitchell College remains dedicated to preparing students for a data-driven workforce through rigorous coursework and new degree concentrations in analytics and AI. As part of this vision, Sabol is teaching a new course focused directly on these emerging technologies.

This article appeared in the 2025-2026 issue of the Mitchell Magazine, an annual publication of the Mitchell College of Business. READ THE FULL ISSUE >>>

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