PSTC faculty associates have a long history of studying social and health inequalities. Research includes, for example, Anna Aizer’s work on how maternal disadvantage during the prenatal period can negatively affect long-term child health, and Emily Rauscher’s recent study of how investment in school facilities may improve equality of opportunity for low-income students in low-income districts.

This focus on inequality extends to PSTC predoctoral trainees, as well. Three trainees in Sociology have recently received NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement grants for projects that address complex questions of inequality.

Nicole Kreisberg has used her dissertation to investigate inequality in the U.S. labor market. She explained, “I seek to understand whether and why employers discriminate against immigrant Latinos in the U.S. labor market. The NSF doctoral dissertation has been invaluable for me to test several mechanisms underlying employment discrimination using multiple methods, including a national survey experiment and in-depth interviews with employers. I am grateful to the NSF for expanding my knowledge of labor market inequalities for an important and growing demographic group in the United States."

In her work on gender inequality in Colombia’s financial system, Kristen McNeill investigates how gender plays into loan officers’ evaluations of the creditworthiness of potential borrowers, and how these evaluations shape inequality in access to resources.

McNeill explained, “I draw on several data sources using mixed methods, including interviews with loan officers, ethnographic observation of their meetings with potential borrowers, and quantitative and textual administrative data on borrowers. The NSF DDRI grant will allow me to extend my data collection period to cover a major relevant transformation in my partner organization. While evaluating potential borrowers is currently governed by loan officers' discretion, the organization plans to introduce a scorecard to standardize and streamline this process. Thanks to NSF, the ability to collect data both before and after this transformation will allow me to investigate both the impact of discretionary evaluative processes on access to resources, as well as the potential role of standardized tools in reducing, increasing, or changing the nature of inequalities.”

Esha Sraboni, the other trainee to receive this award, is studying concepts of gender justice in Bangladesh in the context of gender-based violence. The country has made remarkable progress in gender equality initiatives, but violence against women remains pervasive and women are limited in their access to justice. Her overall aim is to understand how women who have experienced gender-based violence decide whether to seek legal recourse, in a country with multiple systems of state and non-state legal fora, which adds an additional layer of complexity to understandings of justice. In particular, by examining how the intersections of class and religion affect women’s experience of violence and access to the legal system, Esha’s work extends PSTC research on social inequalities.

We look forward to learning more about their work as it progresses.