Geoff Wodtke
@gtwodtke.bsky.social
📤 477
📥 529
📝 14
Prof. of Sociology @ UChicago
https://stonecenter.uchicago.edu/people/geoff-wodtke/
pinned post!
Excited to share that my new book (w/ Xiang Zhou), Causal Mediation Analysis, is now out from CUP. Order at
tinyurl.com/3hspt6em
with discount code CMA2025. Includes software for Stata and R, available here:
causalmedanalysis.github.io
. Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen.
3 months ago
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Geoff Wodtke
Elizabeth Wrigley-Field
about 1 year ago
The biggest project I've worked on for the last chunk of years was just published. It asks, how big are US Black-white lifespan differences? This might seem like a narrow question. I hope to convince you by the end that there are answers you didn't anticipate. And I hope some of them will move you.
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Three Ways of Looking at Black–White Mortality Differences in the United States | Annual Reviews
Everyone agrees that US Black deaths happen earlier than white deaths on average, but it is surprisingly challenging to find the best ways to summarize, quantify, and compare this gap. This review arg...
https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-soc-031021-105213
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David Lay Williams
8 days ago
See video around 20:00. Prof Mankiw, like so many others, is arguing for some variant of sufficientarianism -- the idea that while poverty deserves our moral concern, inequality doesn't. This runs counter to most all of the Western tradition from Plato to Mill, which demands we attend to inequality.
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N. Gregory Mankiw: On the Economic Ideas of the Right and the Left Today
YouTube video by Conversations with Bill Kristol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JNs6bC4NbY&t=1232s
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
9 days ago
Unions have long been associated with higher wages & job security for their members, but does proximity to unions improve conditions for others?
@tvanheuvelen.bsky.social
explains the mechanisms by which they do. He shares them with
@gtwodtke.bsky.social
on the Inequality Podcast →
bit.ly/4uny0Z4
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@butaevak.bsky.social
and Weiqi Wang representing the
@ucstonecenter.bsky.social
well at
#PAA2026
. Great panel on education and social mobility.
21 days ago
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New episode of the inequality podcast w/
@joesoss.bsky.social
. We discuss the disciplinary dimensions of welfare system, the extractive dimensions of legal system, and how both may be linked with immobility and persistent poverty.
open.spotify.com/episode/2bjf...
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Joe Soss on Welfare Reform and ‘Legal Plunder’
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2bjfTQE3hy5dLiWIFKnPzK?si=gkydTcuNQIGia1YwvYcZiQ
about 1 month ago
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
about 2 months ago
Early-career researchers — Milan is calling 🇮🇹 Join us for the Summer School on Socioeconomic Opportunity and Inequality, hosted with the Dondena Centre at Università Bocconi and the Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale. Your spot is waiting. Apply now:
bit.ly/4ma5k2H
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reposted by
Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
about 2 months ago
It’s not just about who you know; it’s the networks you belong to.
@marioluissmall.bsky.social
is pushing us to expand our focus from individuals to the structures that connect them. Listen to this week's episode of The Inequality Podcast with host
@durlauf.bsky.social
:
bit.ly/3PWzw5d
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
about 2 months ago
Proud of your thesis or dissertation? Or know someone who should be? The Stone Center Awards are now accepting nominations from both authors and advisors. Winners receive formal recognition and a cash prize. Deadline to apply: May 8 Nominate today:
bit.ly/3Oq1l5u
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
2 months ago
Will you join us in Vancouver? 🇨🇦 This summer, we’re partnering with UBC's
@stone-centre-ubc.bsky.social
to host the Summer School on Socioeconomic Opportunity and Inequality. Applications are now open – we’re excited to meet you. Learn more:
bit.ly/4lWx0ro
Apply here:
bit.ly/4t8Lff6
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Geoff Wodtke
Harris School of Public Policy
2 months ago
📊 Has class mobility in the U.S. really changed? Are the rich getting richer? New
@ucstonecenter.bsky.social
research finds a nuanced answer: overall mobility looks stable, but beneath the surface there’s growing stickiness at the top and bottom.
https://har.rs/3O3PDx9
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Has Class Mobility in America Really Changed? New Research Finds a Complicated Answer
March 26, 2026 Back to News Steven Durlauf, Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor For decades, Americans have worried that rising inequality is making it harder for children to move beyond the economic circumstances they were born into. A new B...
https://har.rs/3O3PDx9
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
2 months ago
Registration is now open for the Inequality Workshop’s spring quarter! We’re hosting four scholars whose research tackles big questions related to families, education, population trends, and immigration. Save your seat today →
bit.ly/47pGAx8
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Geoff Wodtke
Ann Owens
3 months ago
Have a new book of interest to urban sociologists? Fill out the form below for consideration for
@cicojournal.bsky.social
new City Books feature!
add a skeleton here at some point
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
3 months ago
Joseph Stiglitz has a gift for turning classic market arguments on their head. In conversation with
@durlauf.bsky.social
, he frames the economy as a balancing act, with forces pulling and pushing it towards equilibrium. This tension, shaped by politics, drives inequality. Listen now →
bit.ly/4bbnKe0
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Geoff Wodtke
Reed DeAngelis
3 months ago
Our new study is in press @ Epidemiology. We find exposure to industrial air toxicants predicts shorter life expectancy (~1-4 yrs) among a national cohort of US adults, and especially for disadvantaged groups.
@landscapeslab.bsky.social
@um-src.bsky.social
@umisr.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/3x4dydk9
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(PDF) Industrial Air Toxicant Exposure and Individual Mortality: Evidence from the Americans’ Changing Lives Cohort, 1986–2019
PDF | Exposure to industrial air toxicants remains a leading environmental health risk in the United States (US). Our prospective cohort study examines... | Find, read and cite all the research you ne...
https://tinyurl.com/3x4dydk9
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Excited to share that my new book (w/ Xiang Zhou), Causal Mediation Analysis, is now out from CUP. Order at
tinyurl.com/3hspt6em
with discount code CMA2025. Includes software for Stata and R, available here:
causalmedanalysis.github.io
. Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen.
3 months ago
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Geoff Wodtke
Emma Zang
3 months ago
Call for Submissions: AI for Social Science Methodology (Yale) • Keynote:
@nachristakis.bsky.social
• Panel with editors of leading journals on publishing AI research • Mentoring roundtables for early-career scholars • Generous travel support Discussion-driven, high-quality research.
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Home
https://yalefds.swoogo.com/socialscience/11248177
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Geoff Wodtke
Ang Yu
3 months ago
There’s one week left!
add a skeleton here at some point
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New episode of the inequality podcast w/ Rene Flores, where we discuss his research on some of the most pressing and troubling problems of our current moment.
open.spotify.com/episode/0vdU...
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René Flores on Immigration Enforcement and ‘Social Illegality’
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0vdUyXZSUvJSvat0KEqFGL?si=ppX_CVGGTVerwlPtN7R5Yw
3 months ago
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Geoff Wodtke
Marc Keuschnigg
3 months ago
📚 Special issue in Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie on Explanation and Causality in Sociology. Essential reading on where causal inference in sociology is heading
link.springer.com/collections/...
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Special Issue: Explanation and Causality in Sociology
How to explain social phenomena? How to conceptualize causality and draw valid causal inferences? How to incorporate history and culture into explanations? ...
https://link.springer.com/collections/degdafbcai
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Geoff Wodtke
Steven Durlauf
4 months ago
I am delighted that this great conversation with Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan has posted. Their extraordinary work on intergenerational mobility and immigrants speaks to essential dimensions of the extent of equality of opportunity and of the process of assimilation.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Geoff Wodtke
Joe LaBriola
4 months ago
Urban sociologists! I'm organizing a Community and Urban Sociology Section session at the 2026 ASA Annual Meeting titled "Housing as an Asset." Please submit extended abstracts or full papers related to topics on homeownership, house values, taxation, mortgages, etc. Deadline is 2/25.
bit.ly/3Zx2eez
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American Sociological Association 2026
https://bit.ly/3Zx2eez
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New working paper on recent trends in class mobility in the US:
www.nber.org/papers/w34800
I learned a lot from an amazing team of collaborators at the
@ucstonecenter.bsky.social
while working on this propject: Weiqi Wang,
@butaevak.bsky.social
, and
@durlauf.bsky.social
4 months ago
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Geoff Wodtke
Sociological Science
4 months ago
NEW: Geoffrey T. Wodtke, Kailey White, Xiang Zhou, "Poor Neighborhoods, Bad Schools? A High-Dimensional Model of Place-Based Disparities in Academic Achievement"
sociologicalscience.com/articles-v13...
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https://sociologicalscience.com/articles-v13-6-109/
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
4 months ago
Legislators shape social policy impacting millions–but often with incomplete knowledge. This Friday, David Brady uncovers what lawmakers actually know, what they get wrong, and why it matters for real-world policy. Join us →
bit.ly/4q0E6f4
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
4 months ago
We rarely think of economics as scandalous, but maybe we should. Sam Bowles, in conversation with
@durlauf.bsky.social
& Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, argues that a core assumption in the field impedes moral reasoning about wealth redistribution. Watch "Why Economic Inequalities Endure"→
bit.ly/3Yj4F3B
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Geoff Wodtke
NPR
5 months ago
Local anti-poverty groups have had to scramble and scale back this year as the Trump administration targeted safety-net programs. They are bracing for what may come next.
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For those who help the poor, 2025 goes down as a year of chaos
Local anti-poverty groups have had to scramble and scale back this year as the Trump administration targeted safety-net programs. They are bracing for what may come next.
https://n.pr/49diw0j
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
6 months ago
Children face many challenges after a family separation. Moving homes? That can make it even harder, especially on academic outcomes. This Friday, Lucienne Disch discusses how residential stability may help keep kids test scores on track. Register here →
bit.ly/47z4qWg
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
6 months ago
When kids are ready to learn, Stephen Raudenbush thinks we should be ready to teach. On the latest Inequality Podcast, Raudenbush joins
@gtwodtke.bsky.social
to discuss how teaching and school structure shape outcomes, and why organizational change might be needed. Listen →
bit.ly/4rwytHh
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New episode of The Inequality Podcast w/ Doug Downey at Ohio State:
open.spotify.com/episode/3NhD...
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Doug Downey on ‘How Schools Really Matter’
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3NhDCY5Vh5HkyIwwEb9hNs?si=UybpsuZ3Q2mj53Pk5qMJAw&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A3QjW4JjjLqYMvoNBc2wswe
6 months ago
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
7 months ago
Criminal justice institutions generate billions—but who benefits? This Friday, join Professor Joe Soss to discuss racial capitalism, legal plunder, and political resistance. Register here to join the conversation →
forms.gle/bbnp8ZgfBxE7NAJC8
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
8 months ago
Inequality persists not by accident, but by architecture. Join Samuel Bowles & @durlauf.bsky.social for Inequality Reconsidered: A Week with the Stone Center featuring insightful exchanges on research, policy, and the path forward. Systems won't change themselves. Be a Part of It →
cvent.me/aWXMPq
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
8 months ago
Announcing the 2025-2026 Inequality Workshop schedule! Join us throughout the academic year for dialogue and critical commentary on some of today’s most pressing issues. Want early access? Sign up for our newsletter →
bit.ly/4pxC2fC
#InequalityResearch
#AcademicWorkshops
#UChicago
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Geoff Wodtke
NBER
9 months ago
Measuring intergenerational educational and occupational mobility in China and Russia during the transition to market economies, using new Markov chain methods, from Kristina Butaeva, Lian Chen, Steven N. Durlauf, and Albert Park
https://www.nber.org/papers/w34124
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tinyurl.com/ymyz7v2v
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Where are Chicago’s lead pipes?
Lead water service lines are all over the city. But majority Black and Latino neighborhoods bear the biggest burden, our analysis finds.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/environment/2025/08/28/find-chicago-lead-pipes-home-apartment?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=082825%20Morning%20Edition&utm_content=082825%20Morning%20Edition+CID_cace145ef8cd61b56622d83958a7c673&utm_source=cst_campaign_monitor&utm_term=Where%20are%20Chicagos%20lead%20pipes&tpcc=cst_cm
9 months ago
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
9 months ago
Differences in school quality are often blamed for academic achievement gaps between poor and affluent neighborhoods. A new paper uses ML to find that equalizing quality would reduce this gap by <10%, suggesting disparities stem mainly from structural factors. Explore the findings →
bit.ly/3VdIbQ1
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
10 months ago
Adam Smith is an economics legend, but what gets left out of modern conversations about this iconic thinker? Philosopher Eric Schliesser (
@nescio13.bsky.social
) unpacks Smith’s overlooked views on inequality and concentrated political power. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
bit.ly/3YdiCkj
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Another new working paper w/ Kailey White and Xiang Zhou on differences in school quality across nhoods and their link to achievement gaps.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Check it out today at
#ASA2025
session on "Place and Inequality"
10 months ago
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New working paper w/ Jesse Zhou introducing flexible approach to mediation analysis with multiple mediators.
arxiv.org/abs/2506.140...
See Jesse present it this afternoon at
#ASA2025
.
10 months ago
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
10 months ago
How important are low tax rates when your life and career are rooted in one place? Cristobal Young challenges the idea that the wealthy are fleeing to tax havens in this week’s episode of The Inequality Podcast. 🎧 Listen here:
bit.ly/3YdiCkj
#TaxFlight
#MillionaireTax
#InequalityResearch
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Geoff Wodtke
LSE Inequalities
10 months ago
The richest 1% emit 100x the greenhouse gas emissions of those in the world’s bottom 50%, notes
@profkepickett.bsky.social
. “Inequalities of income, wealth and political power sit at the heart of the environmental crisis”
@equalitytrust.bsky.social
#LSEInequalitiesBlog
🔗
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Uneven Ground: Inequality and Planetary Health
Can we afford the consumption patterns of the super-rich? Or does human and planetary wellbeing require us to drastically reduce inequality?
https://buff.ly/qU8RLOf
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New paper w/ Betsy Priem and Kerry Ard on racial disparities in early childhood exposure to neurotoxic air pollution:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
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Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00221465251340649
11 months ago
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
12 months ago
In our latest book talk, we dive into the tensions between Universal Basic Income, technological innovation, AI, and ideology, framed through the lens of Karl Marx’s enduring relevance. Watch now:
bit.ly/3ZZAsI5
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
about 1 year ago
A book talk to bookend the school year! Join us for a discussion on Marx, featuring UChicago Law Professors
@brianleiter.bsky.social
and Jaime Edwards, as they present a penetrating synthesis of Marx’s ideas and their relevance to contemporary work in the social sciences. RSVP:
bit.ly/4jieMyH
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
about 1 year ago
Today, host
@gtwodtke.bsky.social
and Professor
@aldasky.bsky.social
explore issues at the intersection of climate change, the housing crisis, and social inequality. Listen every other Monday: Website:
bit.ly/3YdiCkj
Spotify:
bit.ly/3qO0KhP
Apple:
bit.ly/3phD0SP
#AffordableHousing
#ClimateChange
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Geoff Wodtke
Ang Yu
about 1 year ago
My paper on causal decomposition of group disparities is out in the Annals of Applied Statistics! If you are looking to explain group differences, this is likely the methodological framework for you!
doi.org/10.1214/24-A...
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Nonparametric causal decomposition of group disparities
We introduce a new nonparametric causal decomposition approach that identifies the mechanisms by which a treatment variable contributes to a group-based outcome disparity. Our approach distinguishes three mechanisms: group differences in: (1) treatment prevalence, (2) average treatment effects, and (3) selection into treatment based on individual-level treatment effects. Our approach reformulates classic Kitagawa–Blinder–Oaxaca decompositions in causal and nonparametric terms, complements causal mediation analysis by explaining group disparities instead of group effects, and isolates conceptually distinct mechanisms conflated in recent random equalization decompositions. In contrast to all prior approaches, our framework uniquely identifies differential selection into treatment as a novel disparity-generating mechanism. Our approach can be used for both the retrospective causal explanation of disparities and the prospective planning of interventions to change disparities. We present both an unconditional and a conditional decomposition, where the latter quantifies the contributions of the treatment within levels of certain covariates. We develop nonparametric estimators that are n-consistent, asymptotically normal, semiparametrically efficient, and multiply robust. We apply our approach to analyze the mechanisms by which college graduation causally contributes to intergenerational income persistence (the disparity in adult income between the children of high- vs. low-income parents). Empirically, we demonstrate a previously undiscovered role played by the new selection component in intergenerational income persistence.
https://projecteuclid.org/journals/annals-of-applied-statistics/volume-19/issue-1/Nonparametric-causal-decomposition-of-group-disparities/10.1214/24-AOAS1990.full
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Geoff Wodtke
American Journal of Sociology
about 1 year ago
Hello world! We at the AJS are pleased to have our bluesky account all systems go! We’ll be announcing our issues, accepted papers, and other relevant happenings. Watch this space for more.
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
about 1 year ago
We’re Hiring! The Assistant Director serves as the operational lead at the Stone Center, collaborating with leadership to advance research on inequality. This position oversees a wide range of research activities and administrative functions. Job Requisition ID: JR29405 Apply:
bit.ly/41Cj5x1
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Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
about 1 year ago
Last Call!
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Geoff Wodtke
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
about 1 year ago
Join us for a panel on standardized testing, college admissions, and social mobility. Experts will explore the role of standardized tests in education, meritocracy in admissions, and how to address social and educational injustices. 🔗Register here:
bit.ly/3QGbAQN
#CollegeAdmissions
#Meritocracy
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Geoff Wodtke
Ann Owens
about 1 year ago
Anyone have guidance on IES restricted data contracts now that NCES is gone? Is disclosure review just not happening anymore? Is this a license agreement violation? Devastating blow for education research, and for early career folks whose research relies on these data
#edusky
#socsky
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