Neha Gondal

Neha Gondal is an associate professor in the department of sociology and the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences (CDS) at Boston University. She uses mathematical and computational techniques to investigate the relationship between social networks and culture and its role in the production and maintenance of social inequalities.

Dr. Gondal draws on a variety of computational techniques in her work including exponential random graph models, machine learning, multi-level regression models, and agent-based simulations. She has studied disparate contexts including moneylending in Renaissance Florence, inequalities in science and academia, public health in housing developments in Boston, and organizational diversity management. While each site presents distinctive features, taken together, Dr. Gondal’s work shows that interpersonal and organizational relationships, as cultural constructs, contribute to the exacerbation of cultural boundaries and status distinctions.

Dr. Gondal’s work has been supported by multiple NIH R01 grants, a CWESP-SSRC grant, as well as other grants and fellowships. She has been an elected council member of three American Sociological Association sections – Economic Sociology, Mathematical Sociology, Rationality and Society (now, Decision-Making, Social Networks, and Society). She also served on the editorial boards of the discipline’s leading journals including American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Poetics, and Sociological Methodology. She is currently deputy editor of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.