At the Center for Creative Leadership, Stephanie Wormington’s primary focus is on incorporating network analysis into new and existing leadership development efforts. She provides research support for various internal and external projects involving network analysis, with the goal of helping leaders understand how formal and informal relationships in the workplace contribute to their organization’s growth. She is particularly interested in how workplace relationships can support or undermine motivation and organizational trust, and identifying strategies to create robust networks.

Previously, Dr. Wormington was an assistant professor at the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. She received her Ph.D. in educational psychology and educational technology from Michigan State University, M.A. in developmental psychology from Duke University, and B.A. in psychology from Reed College. Dr. Wormington’s work involves two complementary research agendas: (1) helping students prepare for and navigate key educational transitions; and (2) helping practitioners identify and address contextual barriers to students’ success at the classroom, institutional, and policy levels. Dr. Wormington has partnered with educators to support individuals over the transition from elementary to middle to school, high school to 2-year and 4-year colleges, and postsecondary settings to the workplace. Much of her current work involves testing and tailoring motivational interventions for students in community college settings. Dr. Wormington’s other research interests include documenting heterogeneity in student motivation through person-oriented approaches, assessing peer influences on motivation through social network analysis, and evaluating student motivation through practical measurement.