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Modupe Akinola

Modupe Akinola

Modupe Akinola is the Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business at Columbia Business School and Faculty Director of the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics. Prior to pursuing a career in academia, Professor Akinola worked in professional services at Bain & Company and Merrill Lynch.

Professor Akinola examines how organizational environments—characterized by deadlines, multi-tasking, and other attributes such as having low status—can engender stress, and how this stress can have spillover effects on performance. She uses a multimethod approach that includes behavioral observation, implicit and reaction time measures, and physiological responses (specifically, hormonal and cardiovascular responses) to examine how cognitive outcomes are affected by stress.

In addition, Professor Akinola examines workforce diversity. Specifically, she examines the strategies organizations employ to increase the diversity of their talent pool. She also explores biases that affect the recruitment and retention of minorities in organizations.

Primary Interests:

  • Emotion, Mood, Affect
  • Gender Psychology
  • Group Processes
  • Intergroup Relations
  • Interpersonal Processes
  • Neuroscience, Psychophysiology
  • Organizational Behavior
  • Prejudice and Stereotyping
  • Social Cognition

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Video Gallery

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Setbacks Can Spur Leaps Forward

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  • Setbacks Can Spur Leaps Forward


  • Rethinking Stress


  • How to Handle Stress When You Need to Be Your Best (GMA)


  • The Future of Work


  • Feedback Doesn't Have to Be Stressful


  • Columbia Business School Faculty Profile


  • Three-Minute Insights (DealBook Conference 2015)


  • On Being the Stress Advisor in "Limitless" with Chris Hemsworth


  • On the Impact of Stress


  • What Is Stress?


  • How Inclusive Leadership Elevates Diverse Teams


  • On Embracing Differences and Giving Feedback in a Diverse Environment



Journal Articles:

Other Publications:

  • Rosette, A. S., Akinola, M., & Ma, A. (2018). Subtle discrimination in the workplace: Individual-level factors and processes. In E. King & A. Colella (Eds.), Oxford Handbook on Discrimination (pp.7-24). New York: Oxford University Press.

Courses Taught:

  • Advanced Micro Seminar in Social Interactions in Groups and Organizations
  • Executive Ethics (Session on Stereotyping and Discrimination in Organizations)
  • Global Immersion: Lessons from Rwanda on Conflict, Leadership, Change, and Business Opportunities
  • Lead: People, Teams, Organizations
  • Success, Satisfaction and Sustainability

Modupe Akinola
Columbia Business School
346 Kravis Hall
665 West 130th Street
New York, New York 10027
United States of America

  • Work: (212) 854-0756
  • Mobile: (617) 233-4020
  • Skype Name: mnakinola

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