Research

I investigate class and race stratification in U.S. society, largely focusing on higher education’s role in this stratification. Higher education is a critical site for assessing how class and race inequalities are reproduced and might be ameliorated: the attainment of higher education is a dividing line between haves and have-nots, profoundly shaping not just income but also health, job satisfaction, and other nonpecuniary outcomes. This means that understanding the U.S. stratification order requires knowing who participates in higher education, who finishes their degrees, who accesses good programs, and what upstream factors stratify these opportunities. My published works reveal unexamined sources of inequality in higher education, show how recent trends in higher education have fostered these inequalities, and illuminate policy changes that are likely to even the playing field within this social institution. You can browse my CV for examples.

Within this research agenda, some of my new and ongoing work concerns (1) whether racial stratification is reinforced by student financial aid policy’s focus on income over wealth, and (2) the change in the landscape of Master’s degree education over recent decades and the consequences of this change for educational gradients in desired outcomes.