Adia Harvey Wingfield, President, American Sociological Association
I am excited to introduce ASA’s Policy Outreach Program (POP) Fellowship, our new initiative designed to connect sociologists with the policy world. Fellows will partner with think tanks, policymakers, and legislators, gaining increased opportunities to access fellowships, learn about resources and funding sources, and, perhaps most importantly, share their work with those who can put it into ac[...]
On March 25, 2025, I had the privilege to sit around a table that had belonged to former Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) with six colleagues and advocate for the importance of social science research funding. The meeting was one of four with congressional staffers that I participated in during Social Science Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. During the two-day event, I joined more than 70 other social and b[...]
In 2019, the Better Life Lab team at the nonpartisan think tank, New America, fielded a nationally representative survey on men and caregiving in the United States. We paired the survey with online focus groups consisting of men who are fathers, men who are professional caregivers, and men who care for aging or disabled adults. Our questions covered a wide range of topics, from views on and use of[...]
In spring 2024, the small college where I had worked for 12 years—a place to which I had been deeply devoted, in a community that I had no intention of ever leaving—declared a financial crisis that made it clear closure was possible. Since my partner was also a faculty member at the college, and we could not risk having our entire household income and health insurance tied to a precarious inst[...]
Sociologists study topics that matter to everyday people. Given that social structures govern everything around us, we have an almost unlimited scope for research. Some social structures—those we sometimes call macrostructures—play an outsized role in shaping the lives of individuals. Nation-states are one example where institutions become binding throug[...]
In my final year of graduate school, I was offered a fellowship to work in the U.S. Congress. During the interview process, I was asked to complete a peculiar assignment: design a policy to increase net retirement savings in the United States that won’t cost the federal government a dime. I pitched a modest plan to let Americans divert their tax refunds into retirement accounts—something not f[...]
On April 29, 2025, sociologists, educators, and policy analysts gathered at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., for an engaging event titled "Public Policy and the Future of Work: A Conversation with Anna Branch and Elisabeth Jacobs." The event brought together prominent sociologists conducting research on employment and labor with researchers working at think tanks [...]
Footnotes, is ASA’s open-access magazine featuring sociologists’ insights on timely and relevant topics. It also provides news and updates about ASA and the broader discipline of sociology. The magazine is published three times per year—in Winter, Spring, and Fall.
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