Dr Renata Bongiorno

Personal statement

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 in 2010. She subsequently worked as a researcher and lectured in Australia for 6 years, primarily based at The University of Queensland. In 2017, Renata moved to the UK to work as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Exeter for 5 years. Renata also taught on the Psychology of Gender module at Exeter, receiving a Teaching Excellence Award.

She joined Bath Spa University in 2022 and is one of the leads for the Level 5 core module Biological and Social Psychology, and contributes to teaching in several other modules, including the Level 6 core module Contemporary Applications of Psychological Science. Renata also supervises undergraduate dissertation projects exploring topics such as attitudes towards the #MeToo social movement and gendered career aspirations. In 25/26, Renata will lead a new Psychology of Gender module for Level 6. 

Since 2024, Renata has been the Director of a new Identities and Equalities Research Cluster, and Chairs a new School of Sciences Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group. In addition to this work, Renata works with several other groups across Bath Spa University to promote inclusive and equitable practice and policy for staff and students.

Renata’s published research spans multiple areas, including understanding prejudices towards women and privileges afforded to men in leadership, how people are mobilised to act on climate change, how identity and emotion contribute to biases when responding (or failing to respond) to gender-based violence, and effects of neoliberal feminism on women's protest motivation. 

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), and advancing new theory and analysis to examine stereotype content, with projects on gender bias affecting leadership and gender and class biases in STEM fields.

Renata's research has received broad media coverage, including in Psychology Today, BBC, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Medium, and New Scientist. Renata has also written articles about her research for the general public and given invited presentations to community, industry and academic audiences in Australia, Europe, and North America.

Renata regularly acts as a reviewer for academic journals in the areas of social, political and organisational psychology, and gender studies.

Academic qualifications

• PhD, Australian National University, 2010
• BA (First Class Honours, Psychology), Australian National University, 2002
• Renata also completed a major in Sociology and a minor in Anthropology.

Professional qualifications

• Fellow - Higher Education Academy
• Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education.

Other external roles

• Editorial Consultant, British Journal of Social Psychology
• Committee member for the British Psychological Society's Psychology of Women and Equalities Section (POWES) 
• Guest Editor for Frontiers in Psychology – Research Topic: Understanding Barriers to Workplace Equality: A Focus on the Target’s Perspective (2018)
• Ad-hoc reviewing for Nature Reviews Psychology, Social Psychological and Personality Science, British Journal of Social Psychology, Group Processes and Inter-group Relations, Sex Roles, Psychology of Women Quarterly, Australian Journal of Psychology, European Journal of Social Psychology, Journal of Social and Political Psychology, Social Cognition, Journal of Experimental Criminology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Social Psychology, Political Behavior, Social Justice Research.

Teaching subjects 

• Stereotypes and discrimination
• Gender and its interaction with other social identities
• Prejudice and privilege
• Power and leadership
• Group processes and inter-group relations 
• Collective action and social change.