Renata Bongiorno

Dr Renata Bongiorno is a social psychologist who studies stereotypes, collective action and social change, particularly relating to gender.

Renata received her PhD from the Australian National University. She worked as a researcher and lectured in Australia before moving to the UK in 2017 to work as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Exeter. Renata also taught into The Psychology of Gender module at Exeter, receiving a Teaching Excellence Award.

Renata’s published research covers issues of prejudice towards women and privileges afforded to men in leadership, how groups to advance action on climate change form, and how identity and emotion contribute to biases when responding (or failing to respond) to gender-based violence.

Some of Renata’s ongoing projects include: examining men’s engagement with the gender-equality cause (supported by a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant); advancing new theory and analysis to examine stereotype content, with implications for understanding leader-gender bias and gender and class biases in STEM fields; and paradoxical effects of promoting individual resilience to advance gender equality.

Renata’s research has received broad media coverage, including by BBC, Forbes and The Huffington Post, Medium and New Scientist. She has presented her research to community, industry and academic audiences in Australia, Europe and the USA and regularly acts as a reviewer for academic journals in the areas of social, political and organisational psychology and women's studies.