Lauren A. Rivera

Lauren Rivera is Professor of Management & Organizations at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and Professor of Sociology at Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences.

She is an expert on workplace personnel practices, with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. She has written extensively on hiring and promotion practices in elite professional service firms.

Her award-winning book Pedigree: How Elite Students Get Elite Jobs (Princeton University Press, 2015) investigates hiring decisions for top-tier investment banks, consulting firms, and law firms. She is currently working on a variety of projects examining discrimination in public and private education.

Her research has been featured in the Atlantic, Economist, Financial Times, Fortune, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and NPR. In recognition for her work, Professor Rivera received the American Sociological Association’s William Julius Wilson Early Career Award.

She received her B.A. in sociology and psychology from Yale University and her Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University. She previously worked at Evite.com and Monitor Deloitte.