Susan Pinker is a psychologist, author and social science columnist for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''. She is a former weekly columnist for ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', and has also written for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', and ''

The Times of London ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

''. Her first book, '' The Sexual Paradox'', was awarded the William James Book Award in 2010 and was published in 17 countries. Her recent book, ''The Village Effect'' was a Canadian bestseller and an Apple 2014 nonfiction best pick. Her work has been featured in ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

'', ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikk ...

'', and ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

''.

Career

She spent 25 years in clinical practice and teaching psychology, first at

Dawson College Dawson College (French: ''Collège Dawson)'' is an English-language public general and vocational college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The college is situated near the heart of Downtown Montreal in a former nunnery on approximately 12 acre ...

, then at McGill University. Pinker writes about new findings in

behavioral science Behavioral sciences explore the cognitive processes within organisms and the behavioral interactions between organisms in the natural world. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behavior through naturalistic o ...

in the Mind and Matter column, which appears Saturdays in the ''Wall Street Journal''. Her ''Globe and Mail'' columns, Problem Solving and the Business Brain, applied the latest evidence from the fields of neuroscience,

behavioral economics Behavioral economics studies the effects of psychological, cognitive, emotional, cultural and social factors on the decisions of individuals or institutions, such as how those decisions vary from those implied by classical economic theory. ...

and

social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the r ...

to the world of business. They appeared weekly in ''The Globe and Mail'' from 2003 to 2011. Pinker's book, '' The Sexual Paradox: Men, Women and the Real Gender Gap'', is focused on how

sex differences Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

play out in the workplace. By comparing fragile boys who later succeed, with high achieving women who opt out, Pinker turns several assumptions upside down: that the sexes are biologically equivalent, that smarts are all it takes to succeed and that men and women have identical interests and goals. After decades of women's educational coups and rising through the ranks, men still outnumber

women in business The phrase women in business considers the historical exclusion of women in leadership roles, particularly in the field of commerce, business and entrepreneurship. Today, the phrase advocates for increased participation of women in the business, ...

physical science Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences". Definition Physi ...

, law, engineering, and

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

. In explaining this ratio, Pinker's stance is that

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

plays just a small part. If the majority of children with school and behavioral problems are boys, then why do so many overcome early obstacles, while rafts of high achieving women choose jobs that pay less or opt out at pivotal moments in their careers? ''The Village Effect: How Face-To-Face Contact Can Make Us Healthier, Happier and Smarter'', combines narrative nonfiction with science reporting to explore how our social bonds, face-to-face contact, and networks affect our thinking, learning, happiness, resilience and

longevity The word " longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography. However, the term ''longevity'' is sometimes meant to refer only to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is always d ...

. It was published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

in Canada, Spiegel and Grau in the US,

Atlantic Books Atlantic Books is an independent British publishing house, with its headquarters in Ormond House in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. It is perhaps best known for publishing Aravind Adiga's debut novel ''The White Tiger'', which rece ...

in the UK, Charactery in Poland, Book21 in Korea, Cheers Media in China, and Batik Yayincilik in Turkey. It was selected as an Apple Nonfiction "Best Pick" in 2014.

Awards

Her 2008 book, '' The Sexual Paradox'', was awarded the William James Book Award by the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

in 2009. Her 2014 book, ''The Village Effect'', was selected as an Apple Nonfiction Best Pick in 2014. In 2014, Susan was given the Holden Award by the

International Society for Intelligence Research The International Society for Intelligence Research (ISIR) is a scientific society for researchers in human intelligence. It was founded by Douglas K. Detterman of Case Western Reserve University in 2000. The society advocates for ongoing suppo ...

. In 2015 she was a Poynter Fellow in Journalism at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. Her writing has also been recognized in awards from the

Canadian Medical Association The Canadian Medical Association (CMA; french: Association médicale canadienne, AMC) is a national, voluntary association of physicians and medical learners that advocates on national health matters. Its primary mandate is to drive positive ch ...

(2000), the Professional Writing Association of Canada (2002, 2010), and she has been nominated for the John Alexander Media Award (2000), the Aventis Pasteur Medal for Excellence in Health Research Journalism (1999), the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

Woman of Distinction Award (2007), and the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction (2009).

Personal life

Pinker is married and has three children. She lives in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. She is the sister of

evolutionary psychologist Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach in psychology that examines cognition and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify human psychological adaptations with regards to the ancestral problems they evolv ...

Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. P ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinker, Susan 1957 births Living people Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian psychologists Canadian women psychologists Canadian women journalists McGill University alumni McGill University faculty Jewish Canadian journalists Journalists from Montreal Scientists from Montreal Writers from Montreal Dawson College faculty Canadian columnists Canadian women columnists 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century psychologists 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian journalists 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century psychologists