Sumit Karn

Sumit Karn works closely with Professor Sheena Iyengar at Columbia Business School on research examining how individuals and organizations evaluate ideas, identify promising opportunities, and decide which ideas to pursue.

An organizational sociologist and PhD researcher at Columbia University, Karn investigates the cultural and structural mechanisms underlying the diffusion of innovation and institutional change. His research examines how educational technology (EdTech) ideas spread across organizations and national contexts, gain legitimacy as solutions to educational problems, and become embedded in organizational practices or remain largely symbolic. Drawing on organizational theory, cultural sociology, and mixed methods, his work connects micro-level processes of idea evaluation and selection with macro-level processes of institutionalization and diffusion.

Before joining Columbia Business School, Karn worked across international development, education, and journalism, contributing to projects supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Gates Foundation and reporting for the Herald newspapers. These experiences inform his interdisciplinary approach to studying organizations and innovation. His research has appeared in Economic Analysis and Policy. 

Education

PhD, Columbia University, 2028 (Expected); MA, Columbia University, 2023; Graduate Certificate, University of Pennsylvania, 2020; BA, Washington State University, 2019