The Russell Sage Foundation welcomes seventeen leading social scientists as Visiting Scholars for the 2014-2015 academic year. During their time in residence, these scholars will pursue research and writing projects that reflect the Foundation’s commitment to strengthening the social sciences and applying research more effectively to important social problems.

Several of the forthcoming scholars will pursue research in socioeconomic and racial inequality. Mona Lynch of UC Irvine will explore how racial imbalances in drug sentencing persist despite changes in federal laws aimed at reducing uneven sentencing. Judd Kessler of the University of Pennsylvania (working with Andrew Schotter) will examine the different decision-making processes between the rich and the poor. Ann Morning of New York University (working with Marcello Maneri) will compare Americans’ and Italians’ differing conceptions of racial and ethnic identity. Sean Reardon of Stanford University will analyze academic achievement gaps in the U.S. by race and class. Aliya Saperstein of Stanford University will explore the fluidity of racial perception by tracing the ways in which concepts of race change both within and across generations. Arden Morris will complete a series of articles on the racial and socioeconomic barriers to cancer care in the U.S.

Other scholars will undertake projects related to immigration. Elizabeth Cohen of Syracuse University will assess the ways in which the U.S. can form a bipartisan agreement to enfranchise undocumented immigrants. Karl Jacoby of Columbia University will examine the changing race relations along the U.S.-Mexico border. Zai Liang of SUNY Albany will analyze patterns of employment and settlement among recent Chinese immigrants in the U.S. James McCann of Purdue University will look at the ways in which U.S. political parties have attempted to foster partisan identification among Latino immigrants.

Two scholars’ projects examine the changing nature of work: Richard Alba of the CUNY Graduate Center will explore demographic transformation of working-age Americans and how this has increased diversity in top-tier occupations. Paul Osterman of MIT will evaluate strategies for improving the low-wage labor market though encouraging employers to improve their human resource policies.

Finally, Philip Cook of Duke University will investigate at the sources of guns to gang members in four U.S. cities. Thomas Palfrey of the California Institute of Technology will write a book on Quantal Response Equilibrium and its application to the social sciences. Elizabeth Shermer of Loyola University Chicago will trace the roots of the contemporary crisis in higher education. Susan Silbey of MIT will examine growing conflicts between federal laws and laboratory science. And Susan Stokes of Yale University will explore why certain groups, such as the low-income population, tend to abstain from voting in elections.

Click here to see the full list of scholars.