Sneak peak at new sociology research hitting this year's premier meeting
Sneak peak at new sociology research hitting this year's premier meeting
- August 5, 2009
- UCI sociologists travel to San Francisco for annual American Sociological Association meeting to take on key leadership positions and present research findings that range from how career prioritization decisions affect men and women differently to a look at how personal networks influence drug use
Compromise, while considered a key ingredient for a healthy long-lasting relationship,
doesn't always amount to an equitable 50/50 split. Such is the case, finds assistant
professor Joy Pixley, when it comes to career prioritization decisions for dual-earning
couples. Based on an analysis of 73 career decisions made by 37 couples, she finds
that decisions to place a priority on the career of the husband more negatively impacts
the wife's career advancement opportunities and potential wage earnings than if the
situation were reversed.
Her findings will be one of many topics of discussion at this year's American Sociological
Association annual meeting which will be held August 8-11 in San Francisco. The event,
which draws more than 6,000 participants, will have excellent representation from
U.S. News and World Report's 27th best ranked sociology department as 75 UCI sociology
faculty and graduate students have plans to attend.
For research professors and scholars, major discipline conferences and annual meetings
present key opportunities each year for sharing new, cutting edge research findings.
At the same time, leadership positions within these premier organizations also provide
opportunities for playing a more hands-on role in guiding and shaping advancements
in respective fields.
This year, Chancellor's Professor David Snow will take the reigns as ASA's new vice president-elect while several additional sociology faculty will serve as chairs of key committees.
Included among them are Frank D. Bean, chair of the Section on International Migration;
David Meyer, chair of the Section on Peace, War and Social Conflict; David Smith,
chair of the Section on Marxist Sociology; and Snow who currently serves as chair
of the Section on Community and Urban Sociology.
"UC Irvine sociologists, faculty and graduate students together, are among the most
active and visible in the country in producing policy relevant new research and in
serving the nation's premier professional association," says Wang Feng, sociology
professor and department chair. This year's meeting, themed around the changing definition
of communities, ties closely with the major research areas of the department, he adds.
Here, we offer a sneak peak at some of the research findings being presented by UCI
sociologists.
Social Inequality
Compromise, while considered a key ingredient for a healthy long-lasting relationship,
doesn't always amount to an equitable 50/50 split. Such is the case, finds assistant
professor Joy Pixley, when it comes to career prioritization decisions for dual-earning
couples. Her research pulls into the social inequality debate issues of gender and
life-course planning. Based on an analysis of 73 career decisions made by 37 couples,
she finds that decisions to place a priority on the career of the husband more negatively
impacts the wife's career advancement opportunities and potential wage earnings than
if the situation were reversed. Her findings will be the topic of discussion at a
session on gender at the interface of home and work at the up-coming August meeting.
Using his research in Brazil as a case study, Stanley Bailey, associate professor,
will share his findings on how the definition of race and inequality differs from
country to country. According to his research, Brazilians - in contrast to Americans
- avoid rigid notions of racial group membership. Roughly 40 percent of Brazil's population
self-classifies as coming from mixed ancestry, Bailey says. Yet the Brazilian black
movement endorses a black vs. white scheme for classifying the population where those
of mixed ancestry become black. He will demonstrate how adopting this vision might
impact studies of racial inequality when experiences of discrimination don't fit neatly
within the same black and white scale. His findings are the subject of his recently
published book, Legacies of Race: Identities, Attitudes, and Politics in Brazil.
Social Movements and Social Change
How groups mobilize to incite change pervades all aspects of society, be it politics,
business, education or religion. Paul Morgan, graduate student, links the 21st century
with historical research on social movements to explain how an online group's protest
efforts against Scientology were able to quickly launch from the virtual world to
reality, resulting in physical protests at more than 100 sites. His findings could
serve as a working model for similar online movements interested in branching out
from clicks to bricks.
The role of higher education in sparking social change is the research focus of Evan
Schofer, associate professor. The worldwide expansion of higher education has tremendous
transformative potential, constructing individuals with common global identities and
frames and linking them to each other, he says. At this year's annual conference,
he will present findings that link higher education to increased rates of citizen
participation in global and national civil society.
Complex Networks
Between cell phones, email, online social networks and the myriad technological tools
available at our fingertips for communicating with one another, staying connected
with friends, family and co-workers has never been easier. How we form these connections
and the way in which we share information is the research focus of Carter Butts, associate
professor. He has applied computational models of complex networks to studying everything
from Facebook networks to how emergency personnel communicate during times of crisis.
At ASA's up-coming meeting, he will present research that uses similar modeling to
explain how upper-level managers within the high tech industry communicate with one
another and seek advice. His findings could help organizations discover better methods
for internal communication.
Taking a slightly different approach to the concept of complex networks is Vincent
Laus, sociology graduate student. His research highlights how a person's personal
networks may facilitate drug use. Based on in-depth interviews with 14 northern California
Filipino American drug users, he found that only by breaking free from their social
networks could they kick their addictions while those who maintained ties remained
users.
Race and Immigration
Increasing rates of immigration across multiple continents have spurred massive demographic
changes across the world. In many instances, color lines have blurred and cultures
have converged. A study by UC Irvine sociologists Cynthia Feliciano and Belinda Robnett,
however, says that the cross-cultural revolution does not extend to the internet dating scene, where people often follow racial stereotypes when looking for love. Their findings
showed that Asians, African Americans and Latinos are more likely to include whites
as possible dates than whites are to include them. The study appeared in the March issue of Social Science Research and will be the subject of their presentation in San Francisco this August.
Jennifer Lee, associate professor, will share her findings on the divergent routes
the adult children of immigrants take to educational and occupational attainment.
Based on 160 in-depth interviews with 1.5 and second-generation Chinese, Vietnamese,
and Mexicans, she found that while some follow the normative course and achieve predictable
levels of attainment, others take alternative pathways that defy convention yet achieve
success nevertheless. Still others, she says, find their routes to upward mobility
hampered or blocked altogether. Her findings identify key mechanisms that affect choices
made in pursuit of success, the results of which help dispel some of the enduring
myths about group-based cultures, stereotypes, and processes of assimilation.
Visit ASA's online program database to preview more UCI sociology research and learn more about UCI involvement in ASA.
Share on:
connect with us