Angel L. Harris

ANGEL L. HARRIS

106 Wallace Hall
Department of Sociology
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544

angelh@Princeton.EDU Tel: (609)258-4530


Angel L. Harris WHY DOES ACADEMIC INEQUALITY ACROSS RACIAL/ETHNIC GROUPS PERSIST?

Education is becoming increasingly important for upward social mobility in the U.S. and abroad and has been linked to societal inequalities in health, income, and other life-chance measures. Thus, education plays a central role in social and economic well-being, particularly for women and minority groups. Given that the minority population within the U.S. has been steadily increasing and is projected to comprise 40 to 50 percent of the U.S. population in 2050, understanding racial differences in achievement is important for scholars, educators, and policy makers. My interests are on how perceptions about the opportunity structure and the system of social mobility influence the extent to which people invest in schooling. Thus, my research focuses on the social psychological determinants of the racial achievement gap. I have focused on identifying factors that contribute to African Americans' lower academic achievement and Asian Americans' higher academic achievement relative to Whites.

CURRICULUM VITA (pdf)

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Studies on Education

Harris, Angel L. (2006) "I (Don't) Hate School: Revisiting 'Oppositional Culture' Theory of Blacks' Resistance to Schooling." Social Forces 85: 797-834.

Harris, Angel L., and Keith Robinson. (2007). "Schooling Behaviors or Prior Skills?: A Cautionary Tale of Omitted Variable Bias within the Oppositional Culture Theory" Sociology of Education 80: 139-57.

Harris, Angel L. "Optimism in the Face of Despair: Black-White Differences in Beliefs about School as a Means for Upward Social Mobility." Forthcoming at Social Science Quarterly

Chavous, Tabbye M., Angel Harris, Deborah Rivas, Lumas Helaire, and Laurette Green. (2004). "Racial Stereotypes and Gender in Context: African Americans at Predominantly Black and Predominantly White Colleges." Sex Roles 51: 1-16.

Studies on Adolescent Development/Racial Identity

Mahoney, Joseph L., Angel L. Harris, and Jacquelynne S. Eccles. (2006). "Organized Activity Participation, Positive Youth Development and the Over-Scheduling Hypothesis." Social Policy Report, 20 (4):3-30. http://www.srcd.org/spr.html

Lacy, Karyn and Angel L. Harris, "Breaking the Class Monolith: Understanding Class Differences in Black Adolescents' Attachment to Racial Identity." Forthcoming in Dalton Conley and Annette Lareau (eds.), Social Class: How does it Work? New York: Russell Sage Foundation Press.

FACULTY

ELIZABETH M. ARMSTRONG
DELIA BALDASSARRI
MIGUEL CENTENO
PAUL DI MAGGIO
MITCHELL DUNEIER
THOMAS J. ESPENSHADE
PATRICIA FERNANDEZ-KELLY
ANGEL L. HARRIS
SCOTT M. LYNCH
DOUGLAS S. MASSEY
SARA MCLANAHAN
KATHERINE S. NEWMAN
DEVAH PAGER
ALEJANDRO PORTES
GILBERT ROZMAN
MARTIN RUEF
MATTHEW J. SALGANIK
KIM LANE SCHEPPELE
PAUL STARR
MARTA TIENDA
ROBERT WUTHNOW
KING-TO YEUNG
VIVIANA A. ZELIZER

FACULTY LIBRARY

EMERITUS FACULTY

MARVIN BRESSLER
SUZANNE KELLER
HOWARD TAYLOR
WALTER WALLACE

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