2010

Joy L. Hightower recently completed her PhD at UC Berkeley. Her academic grounding in theory and social science research combined with a zest for social justice instilled in her as an undergraduate at Spelman College not only drive her work in the D & I space, but have helped to define her approach.

My current work broadly explores how economic inequalities become social inequalities. In recent projects I have investigated income inequality’s effects on class divides in parenting and housework, on household moving and indebteness, and on people's trust and financial satisfaction: how economic shocks affect marriage and fertility; the role of religion and spirituality in social connectedness; and the reliability of survey questions. I teach graduate and undergraduate courses on research design and quantitative methods.

Interests