About

Debra A. Noumair is a Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she is also the Founder and Faculty Director of the Executive Master's Program in Change Leadership within the Department of Organization and Leadership, Program in Social-Organizational Psychology. Her career is dedicated to bridging the gap between research and practice through teaching, research, consulting, and coaching. Her innovative leadership development programs aim to educate scholar-practitioners and enhance leadership capabilities. She has received recognition for her work as the primary architect of the Executive Master’s Program in Change Leadership, winning the first Teachers College, Columbia University Teaching Award in 2020 and a second award in 2022. Outside of Columbia, she directs executive education programs in global organizations across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the United States, and serves on the faculty of the Change Leadership Master of Science Program at Oxford Said Business School and HEC-Paris, as well as Leading Women Executives, a CEO-sponsored leadership development program in the US. Her academic work focuses on applying systems psychodynamics to organization change with individuals, teams, and organizations. She is committed to developing the capacity to think systemically, link overt behavior to covert dynamics, and discuss the un-discussable, viewing these competencies as central to thriving in social systems. As a Fellow of the A. K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems, her work is informed by systems and psychodynamic theories and experiential learning. She developed X-Ray Vision, a tool that links overt behavior and covert dynamics to understand group and organizational life and facilitate organization change. Professor Noumair partners with organizations across sectors to examine systemic barriers, teach group dynamics, and conduct assessment-anchored executive coaching with senior leaders. She is also an expert on Hogan Assessments, coaching leaders and teams to increase emotional intelligence to achieve strategic goals. Her scholarly contributions include co-authoring and editing several volumes on organization development and change, and she serves on the editorial board of The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Engineering
• Management
• Computer Science
• Public relations
• Psychology
• Law
• Social Science
• Social psychology
• Criminology
• Library science
• Media studies
• Pedagogy
• Engineering ethics
• Epistemology

Selected publications

• Beneath the Surface: What Sport Reveals About High Performance Systems

  The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science · 2026-03-23

  articleSenior author

  Elite sport is widely celebrated as a model of human excellence. Yet beneath this idealizationlies a system that normalizes the suppression of vulnerability, the tolerance of harm, and the prioritization of performance over well-being. Drawing on systems psychodynamic theory, this essay argues that sport serves a broader cultural function by absorbing and legitimizing impulses such as aggression, domination, and emotional suppression that society struggles to acknowledge elsewhere. Athletes carry these burdens on the public's behalf, and when they refuse, the reaction can be fierce. These dynamics extend beyond sport and shape norms of excellence in business, medicine, and other high-stakes professions. The essay calls for forms of high performance that sustain both achievement and humanity.

  PublisherDOI

• Exploring Covert Team Dynamics in High Performance Sport, A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2025-07-01 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  Maltreatment in sport, encompassing physical, emotional, and sexual harm, has garnered significant attention due to research advancements and high-profile abuse cases (Parent & Fortier, 2018). Athlete safety is often seen as an individual issue, blaming harmful behaviors on a few problematic coaches while overlooking broader systemic factors sustaining harmful cultures in elite sport (Mountjoy et al., 2016). Research by Monton et al. (2024) used the Masculinity Contest Culture (MCC) framework to explore the high-performance sport environments, which were marked by intense competition and traditionally masculine traits, prioritizing performance above all else, including, well-being, health and safety (Monton et al., 2024). This study extends Monton et al.'s (2024) findings by investigating covert team-level processes that sustain toxic organizational dynamics using the X-Ray Vision model (Noumair et al., 2017). Through a secondary analysis of qualitative interview data (n=30), consisting of retired Canadian national team athletes, three key dynamics were identified. Covert team-level dynamics, included fear-based authority, dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors, and tacit motivational contracts, which fostered control, dependency, and tension, leading to isolation, exhaustion, and fragmented team cohesion. The results indicated that these patterns undermined athletes’ well-being and performance, highlighting the need for systemic intervention to address toxic team cultures in elite sport.

  PublisherDOI

• Supporting sexual and gender minority college student wellness: Differential needs and outcomes in a spiritual–mind–body intervention.

  Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity · 2024-12-05 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Research in Organizational Change and Development: Reflexive Conversations of ROCD 30 Authors

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2023

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Social Science

  For the past 36 years, ROCD has provided the organization development and change community with a platform to share new empirical research, insights about change and organization development, and learnings relevant to scholar-practitioners. Most of the contributors to ROCD 30 (six out of seven chapters) have been in the field for 30 years or longer. As a component of celebrating the publication of ROCD Volume 30, we invited the authors to reflect on their contributions and participate in a facilitated reflexive conversation about the development of their individual and shared scholarship, on the state of the field, and on “Putting the Worker Front and Center”. Following the success in previous years, the interactive design of the session will maximize continuous conversations in small groups and in the larger community. Reflections: Individually and Jointly Reconceiving OD to Foster a Hospitable Future Author: Susan A. Mohrman; U. of Southern California, retired Author: Jean M. Bartunek; Boston College Research in OD&C: A Personal Journey through Methods and, Finally, Pragmatism Author: Philip H. Mirvis; Babson Social Innovation Lab Creating and Building Shared Scholarship in Organization Development and Change: A Metalogue Author: David Coghlan; U. of Dublin, Trinity College Author: A.B. Rami Shani; California Polytechnic State U. Applying Management and Organization Theory to Org Change & Development: More than Meets the Eye Author: Thomas G. Cummings; U. of Southern California Author: Chris Worley; Pepperdine Graziadio Business School Developing a Sustainable High Commitment, High Performance System of Organizing, Managing, & Leading Author: Michael Beer; Harvard Business School The Role and Relevance of Discourse and Discursive Perspectives in Org Change & Development Author: Clifford Oswick; City U. London Author: Yuan Li; Saint Mary's College of California Exploring the Richness of Action Learning Research to Exploit Action Learning in Networks Author: David Coghlan; U. of Dublin, Trinity College Author: Paul Coughlan; U. of Dublin

  PublisherDOI

• X-Ray Vision: a research tool for uncovering system psychodynamics to advance organization change

  Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · 2023-08-11 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter addresses the need for researchers to understand what is beneath the factors typically focused on when studying organization change. Theoretically grounded in systems psychodynamics, the X-Ray Vision Model is a tool for researchers to study organizational change as it provides a framework for making sense of unconscious dynamics that influence individuals, groups, and systems. By linking rational and overt actions to irrational and covert dynamics, organization change researchers have an opportunity to develop a more comprehensive diagnosis and a more informed plan to advance organization change than those informed solely by rational theories of human behavior. In the context of a case study in which X-Ray Vision served as one of the primary tools for the research, a step-by-step description with guiding principles provides the reader with a user’s manual for the tool.

  PublisherDOI

• Research in Organizational Change and Development: Conversations with ROCD 28, 29 and 30 Authors

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2022-07-06

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The first annual volume of Research in Organizational Change and Development (ROCD) was published by JAI Press in 1987. Since then, ROCD has provided a special platform for scholars and practitioners to share new research-based insights in the annually published research volumes as well as at Academy meetings. Due to COVID-restrictions the longstanding tradition of a yearly AOM ROCD presenter symposium was interrupted for 2020 and 2021. We now re-start and combine the contributions of volume 28, 29 and 30 authors as catalyst for a lively dialogue around thought-provoking and timely ideas in the realm of change research and practice. Chapter presentations will be grouped under five central questions that are directly connected with the 2022 AOM theme. These questions invite the exploration of the relational conditions, the inquiry methods, the role of technology, issues of identity and the necessary future research and theorizing that will position the field of organization change and development as an important player in “creating a better world together.” As an integral part of former Organization Development and Change (ODC) Division programs, we resume the tradition of volume authors engaging with participants in roundtable conversations. With the new format and the current pertinence of change-oriented questions, we envision a symposium that might also attract members of other divisions who are interested in researching, understanding, and impacting organizational and social change dynamics for world betterment. Designing for Collaboration: Don’t Just Focus on the Team, Focus Also on the Context (Volume 29) Presenter: Brenda Barker Scott; - Presenter: Michael R. Manning; Benedictine U. The Laboratization of Change: What is it with Labs and Change these Days? Presenter: Mathis Schulte; HEC Paris Toward Reconfiguring Sociotechnical System Design: Digitally Infused Work Systems and the ‘Platform- Presenter: Oguz N. Baburoglu; Sabanci U. Digitalization in Schools: Four Examples of Embeddedness Presenter: Jan Löwstedt; Stockholm U. Are OD and Analytics Twins Separated at Birth? Toward an Integrated Framework Presenter: Alec Levenson; U. of Southern California Presenter: Alexis Fink; Facebook Aligning Strategy and Digital Technology in Government Organizations: A Call for Action Presenter: Joe McDonagh; Irish Management Institute / Trinity College Dublin Reflections: Change Management is not Organization Development Presenter: W. Warner Burke; Teachers College, Columbia U. Management is Missing in Change Management Presenter: Jeffrey D. Ford; Ohio State U. Reflections: Individually and Jointly Reconceiving OD to Foster a Hospitable Future Presenter: Susan A. Mohrman; U. of Southern California Presenter: Jean M. Bartunek; Boston College From Psychological Dispositions To Social Positions: Applying a Habitus Oriented Approach To Organiz Presenter: Baruch Shimoni; Bar-Ilan U. Constructing the Professional Identity of the Renowned Women of Organizational Change Presenter: David B. Szabla; Western Michigan U. Creating and Building Shared Scholarship in Organization Development and Change: A Metalogue Presenter: David Coghlan; Trinity College Dublin Presenter: A.B. Rami Shani; California Polytechnic State U. Applying Management and Organization Theory to Organization Change and Development: More than Meets Presenter: Thomas G. Cummings; U. of Southern California Presenter: Chris Worley; Pepperdine Graziadio Business School Research in Organization Development and Change: A Personal Journey Presenter: Philip H. Mirvis; Babson Social Innovation Lab The Social Media Presence of OD: A Social Network Analysis Using Big Data Presenter: Donna Ogle; Rockford U. Presenter: Ram Tenkasi; Benedictine U. Presenter: William Brock; Colorado Christian U. The Role and Relevance of Discourse and Discursive Perspectives in Organizational Change and Develop Presenter: Clifford Oswick; City U. London Presenter: Yuan Li; Saint Mary's College of California Developing a Sustainable High Commitment, High Performance System of Organizing, Managing, and Leadi Presenter: Michael Beer; Harvard Business School Context-Levels-Culture: A Diagnostic Framework for Consulting to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Change Presenter: Frank D. Golom; Loyola U. Maryland Presenter: Mateo Cruz; Bentley U. Values in Concert: Subjective Values Enabling Exploitation and Exploration in Executive Teams Presenter: Mikael Hansson; Orrebro U. Presenter: Johanna E. Pregmark; Chalmers U. of Technology Presenter: Tobias Fredberg; Chalmers U. of Technology Community In The New World Of Work: Implications For Organization Development and Thriving Presenter: Gretchen Marie Spreitzer; U. of Michigan Why Honest Conversations are Transformative Presenter: Michael Beer; Harvard Business School Change in Tightly Coupled Systems: The Role and Action of Middle Managers Presenter: Rita Berggren; Chalmers U. of Technology Presenter: Bjorn E. Frossevi; Chalmers U. of Technology Exploring the Richness of Action Learning Research to Exploit Action Learning in Networks: A Journey Presenter: David Coghlan; Trinity College Dublin Opening the Doors of the Ivory Tower: Action Research as a Tool Supporting Cooperation Between Unive Presenter: Beata Jalocha; Jagiellonian U. Presenter: Ewa Bogacz-Wojtanowska,; Jagiellonian U. Presenter: Piotr Jedynak; Jagiellonian U.

  PublisherDOI

• Burke, W. Warner: Learner, Leader, Scholar-Practitioner

  Springer eBooks · 2021 · 1 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Management
  PublisherDOI

• Burke, W. Warner: Learner, Leader, Scholar-Practitioner

  2020-11-08 · 2 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Leading in: inclusive leadership, inclusive climates and sexual harassment

  Equality Diversity and Inclusion An International Journal · 2020 · 45 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Social psychology

  Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a model that explores the relationship between inclusive leadership, inclusive climates and sexual harassment and other negative work-related outcomes, at the work unit and individual levels. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual model of inclusive work unit leadership, inclusive work unit climate and sexual harassment based on a review of the literature. Findings Leaders who behave more inclusively are expected to have work units and work unit members who experience more positive outcomes and fewer negative outcomes including sexual harassment and other forms of mistreatment. Leaders impact their work unit and work unit members' outcomes directly as well as indirectly through the more inclusive work unit climates they create. Research limitations/implications The sexual harassment literature has identified climate for sexual harassment as a key predictor of sexually harassing behavior and its attendant negative outcomes. A focus on a broader inclusive climate, and inclusive leadership, may provide a richer understanding of the conditions under which sexual harassment and other forms of mistreatment occur and can be mitigated. Practical implications This model can help identify strategies organizations can employ (e.g. inclusive leadership development programs) to combat sexual harassment. Social implications This model may improve understanding of the systemic, organizational causes of sexual harassment reducing sexual harassment victims' potential self-blame and helping policymakers craft more effective sexual harassment interventions. Originality/value The paper conceives of work climates that contribute to sexual harassment more broadly than generally has been the case in the sexual harassment literature to date. The model highlights the important role that leaders play in shaping inclusive climates. It also contributes to the nascent literature on inclusion and inclusive climates, which has paid relatively little attention to exclusion and mistreatment including sexual harassment that are likely to arise in less inclusive workplaces.

  PublisherDOI

• Research Trajectories in Organizational Change and Development: Conversations with ROCD 28 Authors

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2020-07-29

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The first annual research volume in Organization Change and Development was published by JAI Press in 1987. Since then, ROCD has provided a special platform for scholars and practitioners to share new research-based insights in the book as well as at AOM. This new volume covers a wide range of ROCD topics: the social media presence of organization development; the role of professional identity of the renowned women of organizational change; the nature of emerging communities of the new world of work and its implications to the field; development of organizational resilience in the context of educational institutions; the impact of honest conversations in transforming organizations; the role of middle management in tightly coupled systems; and the impact of missing management in organization development and change. In its entirety, ROCD 28 provides insightful and thought-provoking chapters, which serve as a catalyst for lively dialogue. As such, this proposed symposium, one that has become an integral part of the Organization Development and Change (ODC) Division program, continues the tradition of division members meeting with authors of the upcoming volume. The Social Media Presence of OD: A Social Network Analysis Using Big Data Presenter: Donna Ogle; Rockford U. Presenter: Ram Tenkasi; Benedictine U. Presenter: William Brock; Colorado Christian U. Constructing the Professional Identity of the Renowned Women of Organizational Change Presenter: David B. Szabla; Western Michigan U. Presenter: Elizabeth Shaffer; Western Michigan U. Presenter: Ashlie Mouw; Western Michigan U. Presenter: Addelyne Turks; Western Michigan U. Community in the New World of Work: Implications for Organizational Development and Thriving Presenter: Peter Bacevice; U. of Michigan, Ross School of Business Presenter: Hilary M. Hendricks; U. of Michigan Presenter: Lyndon Earl Garrett; Boston College Integrating the Digital in the School Organization: Four Examples of Embeddedness Presenter: Johan Klaassen; Stockholm Business School Presenter: Jan Löwstedt; Stockholm U. Management is Missing Presenter: Jeffrey D. Ford; Ohio State U. Presenter: Laurie Ford; US Nuclear Industry Council Change in Tightly Coupled Systems: Middle Manager Role and Action Presenter: Rita Berggren; Chalmers U. of Technology Presenter: Johanna E. Pregmark; Chalmers U. of Technology Presenter: Tobias Fredberg; Chalmers U. of Technology Presenter: Bjorn E. Frossevi; Chalmers U. of Technology Why Honest Conversations are Transformative Presenter: Michael Beer; Harvard Business School

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• A.B. Rami Shani

  10 shared

• W. Warner Burke

  Columbia University

  5 shared

• Carol Geisler

  Minneapolis Business College

  3 shared

• Diana L. Paulk

  University of Nebraska–Lincoln

  3 shared

• Joe McDonagh

  2 shared

• Jennifer L. Fleming

  University of Virginia's College at Wise

  2 shared

• Shelagh Robinson

  Dawson College

  2 shared

• Danielle P. Zandee

  Nyenrode Business University

  2 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Psychology and Education

  Teachers College, Columbia University

Awards & honors

• First Teachers College, Columbia University Teaching Award (…
• Second-time Teachers College, Columbia University Teaching A…
• Fellow, A. K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems