Peer-reviewed publications

Disappointed Expectations: Downward Mobility & Electoral Change (with Thomas Kurer). American Political Science Review, 116: 4, 2022.

In progress & under review

Perceptions of social mobility, gender, and progressive politics (with Delia Zollinger), R&R, Comparative Political Studies

The politics of status preservation: Immigration and the knowledge economy class, R&R, Perspectives on Politics

Enduring ethnic inequalities: Immigrants and advanced welfare states, Job market paper

“Aspirations or grievances? Upward mobility and progressive politics among women'' (with Delia Zollinger)

“Working together or drifting apart? Political preference formation in segregated workplaces” (with Valentina Consiglio)

“Ethnicity and endogeneity in the welfare state” (with Emily Wolff)

Dissertation book project: Ethnic Inequality in the Welfare State

My dissertation book project, Ethnic Inequality in the Welfare State, aims to reconcile the intergenerational persistence of ethnic and racial inequalities in otherwise egalitarian social policy regimes. Why have advanced welfare states failed to improve mobility prospects for immigrants and their children? I argue that, in response to changes in labor demand and middle-class voter preferences, social policies have been reoriented to promote employment among immigrant minorities rather than expand their access to opportunities.

I draw on panel surveys, administrative data, interviews, and archival documents to show how policy interventions in Finland, Germany, and the UK invest in sector-specific and linguistic skills at the cost of expanding minority access to the socio-cultural resources that are critical for upward mobility in the knowledge economy, including valuable social networks and strong interactive skills. I also use these case studies to explain cross-national variation in ethnic inequalities, arguing that in social democratic welfare states, there is not only pronounced demand for low-wage service labor, but also particularly intense electoral pressures that lead governments to prioritize middle-class concerns — whether about their future status security or about immigrant unemployment — over the access immigrant minorities might have to better opportunities and job prospects.