The pandemic negatively affected mothers, exacerbating gendered inequalities in labor market participation, household work, and caregiving responsibilities. As mothers assumed more caregiving responsibilities in response to childcare and school closures, they also experienced the steepest declines in employment and earnings. Sociologists Priya Fielding-Singh and Elizabeth Talbert will investigate the circumstances that led low-socioeconomic status mothers to leave the labor force during the pandemic. They will conduct in-depth interviews for their study.
Recent research connects New Deal home mortgage policies, including maps drafted by the Homeowners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC), to many contemporary racial and spatial inequalities, including residential segregation, housing outcomes, and decreased mobility. However, this focus may understate the impact of the federal government’s redlining practices on contemporary racial inequality.
In the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the subsequent racial justice protests, many large companies voluntarily pledged to address racial inequality. However, little is known about how corporations actually responded. Sociologist and legal scholar Atinuke Adediran will examine how Floyd’s murder and the subsequent protests influenced corporate behavior on race-conscious disclosures, hiring pledges, and racial philanthropy.
Solitary confinement typically involves incarcerating people in a prison cell for 23 hours each day, often for months at a time, with strict limits on visits, phone calls, rehabilitative programming, and physical activity. These conditions are psychologically painful, can damage mental health, and increase recidivism, the likelihood of poor labor market outcomes, and elevate mortality risks. Sociologists Bruce Western and Jessica Simes will examine the inequalities and harms of solitary confinement in a Pennsylvania state prison.
To reduce the social and financial costs of incarceration, many criminal jurisdictions are mandating justice-involved individuals to substance and mental health treatment, electronic monitoring, community service, and educational programming. Sociologists Mary Ellen Stitt and Gabriela Kirk will will examine the impacts of mandatory alternative-to-incarceration interventions on well-being and on social inequality. They will conduct in-depth interviews for their study.
The modern economy is highly segmented by class and race, but little research examines how class and race segmentation in employment operate together. Sociologist Zawadi Rucks-Ahidiana will create a new categorization system to better understand how race and class define employment opportunities across the United States. She will analyze data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey, the Census County Business Patterns, and the Census for her study.
In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, roughly two-thirds of Asian Americans voted for Hillary Clinton and 19% voted for Donald Trump. In 2020, support for Trump among Asian Americans increased to 28%, with Filipinos registering the highest amount of support, at 38 percent. Sociologist Sharon M. Quinsaat and political scientist Nico Ravanilla will examine the role of pre-migration political experiences and social relationships in the U.S. in the formation of conservative attitudes and beliefs among Filipino immigrants.
Through a history of urban renewal projects to expand its campus, influence on zoning laws, and its tax-exempt status, Yale University has helped to entrench patterns of racial segregation and inequality between downtown New Haven and surrounding neighborhoods. Sociologists Adam Pittman and Cassi Meyerhoffer will examine how living in poor, segregated neighborhoods close to Yale University affects residents’ daily lives. They will conduct interviews and participant observation for their study.
Childcare responsibilities are essential for child development and the future of our society. Yet unevenly shared childcare duties can stall the mobility trajectories of those disproportionately providing childcare. Sociologist Juan Pedroza will examine how childcare arrangements among mixed-status immigrant households differ from U.S.-born households and how these arrangements affect their social and economic mobility. He will analyze data from the American Time Use Survey for his study.
Research has found the belief that racial inequality is due to cultural or personal differences, as opposed to systemic barriers, is growing amongst Black Americans. Sociologist Jasmine Hill will study the impact of political education (e.g., critical race theory) on Black Americans’ inequality beliefs and susceptibility to predatory inclusion schemes like cryptocurrency. She will conduct a series of survey experiments for her study.