Valerie Purdie-Greenaway

Valerie Purdie-Greenaway is an American social psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Columbia University. She holds an affiliate position as Professor of Management at Columbia Business School.

She is best known for her work investigating how social environments and people’s understanding of their experiences in them cause insider/outsider dynamics. One stream of her research employs randomized control trials to understand how stereotype threat and social identity threat can heighten stress that, when severe, can undermine cognitive performance. She also designs interventions aimed at lessening threat, resulting in greater belonging, stronger social ties and improved cognitive performance.

Her second stream of research organizes and make sense of scientific evidence related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). She explores how science experts and lay people come to trust scientific evidence related to DEI and whether such scientific evidence inspires behavior change. The ultimate goal motivating all of her research is help develop and foster inclusive environments that allow diverse social groups to thrive and succeed.

Dr. Purdie-Greenaway has authored over 60 publications that have appeared in journals such as Science, Science Advances, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Psychological Science. She has been awarded grants from the National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation and the Spencer Foundation. Currently, she also serves on the editorial board of Psychological Review.

Dr. Purdie-Greenaway is a thought leader on strategies to enhance DEI in organizations. She currently serves on the board of Burberry’s Global Council for Diversity and Inclusion. Select clients, past and present, include Goldman Sachs, Ernst & Young, P&G, Aesop, The Broad Institute, Brystol-Meyers Squibb, Genentech, and Spencer Stuart. Her research has been featured in media outlets such as the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fortune Magazine, The Atlantic and Scientific American.

She holds an A.B. in psychology from Columbia University (CC ’93) where she lettered in varsity basketball. She also holds a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Stanford University where she trained under Claude Steele.