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Management & Organizations

Peter G. Peterson Professor of Corporate Ethics, Professor of Management & Organizations

Professor of Sociology, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences (Courtesy)

Portrait of Lauren Rivera, Faculty at the Kellogg School of Management

Lauren Rivera is the Peter G. Peterson Chair in Corporate Ethics and Professor of Management & Organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Her research unpacks how the way people define and evaluate merit shapes social inequalities. Her best-selling book Pedigree: How Elite Students Get Elite Jobs (Princeton University Press) investigates on-campus recruitment and hiring for elite professional service firms and the roles that social class, gender, and race play in this process. She is currently working on a variety of projects examining discrimination in education and employment. Dr. Rivera’s research has been featured in the Atlantic, Economist, Financial Times, Fortune, Harvard Business ReviewNew York Times, Wall Street Journal, and NPR and has received a variety of awards from the American Sociological Association. She was named one of the world’s top business school professors by Poets & Quants and Thinkers50. She received her B.A. in sociology and psychology from Yale University and her Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University. Before entering academia, she worked at Evite.com and Leo Burnett Hispanic, and was a Consultant at Monitor Group London. 

About Lauren
Research interests
  • Hiring
  • discrimination
  • inequality
  • personnel practices
  • organizations
  • elites
  • social class
  • gender
  • education
  • qualitative and mixed methods
Teaching interests
  • Leadership
  • workplace diversity
  • hiring
  • decision-making
  • influence
  • teams
  • qualitative and mixed methods
  • PhD, 2009, Sociology, Harvard University
    AM, 2006, Sociology, Harvard University
    BA, 2000, Sociology and Psychology, Yale University, Magna cum laude, distinction in both majors
  • Professor, Management & Organizations, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2020-present
    Associate Professor, Management & Organizations, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University (on leave AY 15-16), 2013-present
    Assistant Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2009-2013
  • Consultant, Monitor Group, 2000-2002
  • Chair's Core Course Teaching Award, Kellogg School of Management
    Kellogg Chairs' Core Course Teaching Award, Kellogg School of Management, 2021
    Saroj Parasuraman Award (Runner-Up), Academy of Management
    Granovetter Award for the Best Article in Economic Sociology, American Sociological Association, 2020
    Distinguished Article Prize, American Sociological Association, Section on Sex & Gender, 2017
    Best Book Award, American Sociological Association, Section on Sociology of Law, 2016
    Outstanding Article Prize, American Sociological Association, Section on Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility, 2016
    Max Weber Book Prize, American Sociological Association, Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work, 2016
    Mary Douglas Book Prize, American Sociological Association, Section on Culture, 2016
    William Julius Wilson Early Career Award, American Sociological Association, Section on Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility, 2016
    Thinkers50 - Most Influential Management Thinkers, www.thinkers50.com, 2016
    Axiom Business Books Silver Medal, Axiom Business Books, 2016
    Named one of the world's best business school professors under 40, Poets and Quants, 2015
    Best Paper Prize, The Davis Conference on Qualitative Research, 2014
    Kellogg Chairs' Core Course Teaching Award, 2013-2014
    Granovetter Award for the Best Article in Economic Sociology, American Sociological Association, 2013
    Geertz Award for the Best Article in the Sociology of Culture, American Sociological Association, 2013
    Best Paper Proceedings, Academy of Management, 2011
  • Referee, Sociology of Education, 2009-2025
    Editorial Board, American Sociological Review, 2021-2024
    Editorial Board, Research in the Sociology of Work, 2017-2020
    Editorial Board, Sociology of Education, 2013-2018

Leadership in Organizations (MORS-430-0)

This course provides students with the social science tools needed to solve organizational problems and influence the actions of individuals, groups and organizations. It prepares managers to understand how to best organize and motivate the human capital of the firm, manage social networks and alliances, and execute strategic change. This is accomplished through knowledge of competitive decision making, reward system design, team building, strategic negotiation, political dynamics, corporate culture and strategic organizational design.

Leadership in Organizations (BUS_INST-303-0)

Social science tools for solving organizational problems and influencing individuals, groups, and organizations. Competitive decision making, reward system design, team building, strategic negotiation, political dynamics, corporate culture, and strategic organizational design. Prerequisites: ECON 201-0 and ECON 202-0.