She received her doctorate in business administration (information systems) from the University of Oklahoma, a master’s in management information systems (MIS) from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a bachelor’s in MIS from Arkansas State University. Her research focuses on the interaction between large groups and technology, examining large group collaboration in contexts such as social media, online communities and crowdfunding platforms. Summers’ research has been published in MIS Quarterly, and she has presented her work at numerous conferences. Prior to entering academia, she worked in the information technology industry as a programmer/analyst.