I use both qualitative and quantitative methods to examine questions relating to immigrants’ and the second generation’s outcomes and racialization, racial attitudes, intergroup relations, and diversity. My most recent work focuses on these questions in the college admissions context. Here’s where you can find my published work.
Race & college admissions
“Translating authentic selves into authentic applications: Private college consulting and selective college admissions.” (Forthcoming in Sociology of Education).
- This paper draws on my dissertation work, in which I use the lens of private college consultants to look at how the rules of college admissions are interpreted and taught to students. This paper focuses on what the imperative to “be authentic” in college applications actually requires, and the racial and class constraints of authenticity.
“What We Talk About When We Talk About Ethnicity: Hispanic Self-Classification and Appraisal in an Online College Forum.” (Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, online first)
- In this paper, I use data collected from online college admissions forum posts in which prospective applicants ask, “Am I Hispanic?” Findings reveal norms of self-classification and social appraisal that interlocuters draw on in their interpretation of ethnic boundaries.
Racial attitudes and intergroup relations
“Misperceptions of Immigrant Flows and Their Associations with Anti-Immigrant Attitudes.” (Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, online first)
- In two papers (the first solo-authored, and the second with Maria Abascal and Van Tran, below), we conduct an original nationally-representative survey experiment to test possible levers for changing anti-immigration attitudes.
“Intervening in Anti-Immigrant Sentiments: The Causal Effects of Factual Information on Attitudes Toward Immigration” (with Maria Abascal and Van C. Tran). 2021. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences 697(1):174-191.
- Discussed in the New York Times, November 3, 2021.
“Perceived Discrimination and Intergroup Commonality Among Asian Americans.” 2021. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences. 7(2):180-200.
- I use data from the 2016 National Asian American Survey to examine the association between Asian Americans’ perceived experiences of discrimination and their feelings of commonality with Black & Hispanic Americans, as well as of linked fate with other Asians. I briefly discuss this paper in this NBC New York story on relations between the Black and Asian communities.
Asian Americans’ experiences in the labor market
“Negotiating the workplace: second-generation Asian American professionals’ early experiences.” 2021. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 47(11):2477-2496.
- I conducted 30 interviews with 1.5- and 2nd generation Asian Americans (of both East & South Asian origin) on their early-career experiences, focusing on the ethnoracialized barriers they faced and how they responded. (This paper is great for teaching! It’s been taught in at least two Introduction to Sociology courses that I know of.)
“The Integration Paradox: Asian Immigrants in Australia and in the United States” (with Van C. Tran and Fei Guo). 2020. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 690(1):36-60.
- In this co-authored paper, we compare the labor market outcomes of four Asian immigrant groups in Australia (which has historically privileged skills-based migration) versus the United States (which privileges family-based migration).
“Revisiting the Asian Second-Generation Advantage” (with Van C. Tran and Jennifer Lee). 2019. Ethnic and Racial Studies 42(13): 2248-2269.
- This paper, examining labor market outcomes for second-generation Asian Americans, has been covered by news outlets including Marketplace, Inside Higher Ed, KPCC, Phys.org and Columbia Magazine. I also discuss our research with InHerSight and the Columbia University GSAS blog.
Book Reviews and Other Publications
- 2022. “The importance of Asian American identity for Asian Americans: a quantitative analysis.” AAPI Data: Data Bits.
- 2021 (with Jennifer Lee). “Reckoning with Asian America.” Science 372(6537):8.
- 2020 (with Estela Diaz). Review of “Hyper Education: Why Good Schools, Good Grades, and Good Behavior Are Not Enough” by Pawan Dhingra in Social Forces.
- 2020 (with Jennifer Lee). Review of “Origins and Destinations: The Making of the Second Generation” by Renee Luthra, Roger David Waldinger, and Thomas Soehl in Contemporary Sociology 49(2):184-186.
- 2019 (with Jennifer Lee). Review of “Raising Global Families: Parenting, Immigration, and Class in Taiwan and the US” by Pei-Chia Lan in Social Forces 97(4): e1-e3.
Op-Eds
- 2021 (with Jennifer Lee). “Why the trope of Black-Asian conflict in the face of anti-Asian violence dismisses solidarity.” The Brookings Institution.
- Quoted in the New York Times, “Will Asian Americans Bolt from the Democratic Party?“, March 2, 2022.
- 2021 (with Jennifer Lee). “Re-imagining safety, belonging, and justice in the wake of anti-Asian violence.” The Brookings Institution.
- 2018. (with Berenike Schott and Daniel Tadmon). “We Voted for a Union at Columbia and We’re Willing to Fight For It.” Talk Poverty.
- 2018. “Why We Wore ‘Abolish ICE’ Shirts to the Statue of Liberty.” Gotham Gazette.
- 2017. “Yes, All Women. Asian-American Women, Too.” Reappropriate.co.