Overview
In my research, I use a range of methods, including experiments, surveys, and in-depth interviews to examine inequalities related to gender, income, and sexuality and the mechanisms that reproduce and challenge these inequalities in family and organizational contexts.
Gender Inequalities in Relationships
My dissertation addressed why many women and men still adhere to gender norms in marital name choice by identifying whether there are consequences for women and men who break name traditions (e.g., women who do not change their names; men who change their names). Gender norms operating in the family have been slower to change than norms in other institutions, such as the workplace or education, but the nature of the backlash women and men experience for breaking gender norms in the family remains unclear. My dissertation addressed this gap by examining whether gender norms about marital name choice are unevenly enforced based on family income, relative income, and couples' reasons for their name choices. I examine views of both women and men who break marital name traditions to uncover the gender-specific outcomes of norm-breaking.
My dissertation was supported by numerous competitive external and internal grants and fellowships, including the Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement (DDRI) Grant from the National Science Foundation, the Graduate Student Investigator Award from the Social Psychology Section of the American Sociological Association, the Midwest Sociological Society Research Grant, the Idagrace Endowed Scholar Award from P.E.O. International, and the Schuessler and Stryker grants from Indiana University. To conduct my dissertation research, I designed three original survey experiments with novel vignettes and questions.
My dissertation was supported by numerous competitive external and internal grants and fellowships, including the Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement (DDRI) Grant from the National Science Foundation, the Graduate Student Investigator Award from the Social Psychology Section of the American Sociological Association, the Midwest Sociological Society Research Grant, the Idagrace Endowed Scholar Award from P.E.O. International, and the Schuessler and Stryker grants from Indiana University. To conduct my dissertation research, I designed three original survey experiments with novel vignettes and questions.
Gender Gap in Economic Experiences & Outcomes
In an NSF-supported project, Youngjoo Cha, Elizabeth Hirsh, and I examine the role of organizational policies and the conditions in which these policies are implemented in changing the culture of overwork and producing positive career and wellbeing outcomes for employees. Specifically, we address whether and how the "gender-framing" of flexwork policies impacts workers. In a related study, currently under review, Jennifer JiWon Lee, Youngjoo Cha, Cassie Mead, and I rely on qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews to examine how employees explain their overworking behaviors in a relatively supportive work environment.
In another study, I and coauthors - Jorge Mejia, Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez - use data from over 120,000 emergency and disaster-related crowdfunding campaigns to examine whether there is a gender gap in fundraising success among those who organize charitable crowdfunding campaigns. Charitable crowdfunding campaigns raise millions of dollars for disaster aid, but they are often inequitable solutions for emergency response. Our research shows why potential donors may prefer to give to men over women, and how crowdfunding platforms can close the gender gap in fundraising success.
In another study, I and coauthors - Jorge Mejia, Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez - use data from over 120,000 emergency and disaster-related crowdfunding campaigns to examine whether there is a gender gap in fundraising success among those who organize charitable crowdfunding campaigns. Charitable crowdfunding campaigns raise millions of dollars for disaster aid, but they are often inequitable solutions for emergency response. Our research shows why potential donors may prefer to give to men over women, and how crowdfunding platforms can close the gender gap in fundraising success.
Gender & Sexuality
My interest in social psychology and the relationship between gender and sexuality stems from research I conducted for my master’s thesis on Anti-LGBT Homicide published in Men and Masculinities and Criminal Justice and Behavior. In the first paper, “Exploring Anti-LGBT Homicide by Mode of Victim Selection,” Jeff Gruenewald and I find that bias crime offenders do not always symbolically target LGBT victims at random. Rather, these crimes can be fueled by interactions between victims and offenders in which offenders feel threatened by the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity. In the second paper, “Accomplishing Masculinity through Anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Homicide,” I led a textual analysis of the anti-LGBT homicide categories we identified in the first paper. We find violence often occurred when male offenders’ gender was threatened following unwanted sexual advances from other males and when offenders found themselves in sexualized situations with other males.
I have also published a paper with Simon Cheng and Brian Powell that compares public views of same-sex and single parents to assess underlying opposition to these family forms. With Brian Powell, I've also written entires on "Methodological Decisions by Research of LGBTQ Populations" and "Debates about Scientific Integrity" for The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies.
I have also published a paper with Simon Cheng and Brian Powell that compares public views of same-sex and single parents to assess underlying opposition to these family forms. With Brian Powell, I've also written entires on "Methodological Decisions by Research of LGBTQ Populations" and "Debates about Scientific Integrity" for The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies.
