Thomas Davidson, PhD Student in Sociology, works with Michael Macy

Department of Sociology

 The department is known for the cutting-edge research of its faculty and for its exceptionally strong graduate and undergraduate training programs.

The department’s focus on basic science is complemented by a deep commitment to informing public and educational policy, particularly on issues related to gender and racial inequality, income inequality, poverty, drug use, economic development, school funding, organizational practices and race and ethnicity.

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Events

Nov 14
Friday

Recipients' Experiences of the Evolving Tax-Based Safety Net: The Case of the 2021 Expanded Child Tax Credit

Friday, Nov, 14 - 03:00 PM

Uris Hall G08

This is a inperson event.

Description

A Sociology Colloquium talk presented by Cornell Soc Ph.D. cadidate, Erika Abbott.

Description:

As traditional welfare programs shrank after the 1990s, cash supports delivered through the tax code, like the Child Tax Credit (CTC), grew dramatically. This talk examines how parents experienced the 2021 Expanded CTC, a temporary but far-reaching COVID-19 era policy that offered monthly payments to most American families with children. Drawing on longitudinal qualitative interviews, I show that participants viewed the Expanded CTC as a fair, low-stigma support program that promoted financial stability and also enabled larger, mobility-enhancing purchases. Although short-lived, the Expanded CTC represented a major shift in social policy design—advancing goals of stability, inclusion, and investment in children.

Nov 21
Friday

Occupational Restructuring and the Decline of Internal Migration by College Status, 1980-2019

Friday, Nov, 21 - 03:00 PM

Uris Hall G08

This is a inperson event.

Description

Sociology Colloquium talk presented by Haowen Zheng, Cornell Sociology Ph.D. 

Occupational Restructuring and the Decline of Internal Migration across Local Labor Markets by College Status, 1980-2019

Internal migration within the United States, i.e., long-distance geographic movements across states, metropolitan areas, and commuting zones, has declined since the 1980s, yet its causes are insufficiently explained. In addition, understanding of the heterogeneity in migration patterns across social groups remains limited. These gaps are particularly important in the context of occupational polarization, which has reshaped local labor markets by expanding high-paying professional and managerial jobs, alongside low-wage service jobs, while reducing routine manual and non-manual occupations due to automation, outsourcing, and deindustrialization. The uneven distribution of occupations across local labor markets likely creates different opportunity structures for different social groups. This study employs a discrete choice modeling framework to examine how local occupational structures in commuting zones influence migration patterns by college status, while accounting for various labor market contexts and individual socio-demographics. Results reveal substantial heterogeneity in migration patterns by education and time: College graduates increasingly leave areas lacking professional-managerial occupations to move into regions with higher shares of such jobs in 2019 compared with 1980, while non-college workers are increasingly drawn to areas with larger concentrations of less-skilled service employment. A data simulation exercise shows that roughly one-third of the decline in migration rate is attributable to structural shifts in occupational compositions across local labor markets.

 

Bio:

Haowen Zheng's research falls into the subfields of social stratification and mobility, gender, spatial demography, and quantitative and computational methods. Her work has been published and conditionally accepted at Sociological Science, Sociological Methods and Research, Demography, and Chinese Journal of Sociology. Beginning in January 2026, she will start as a postdoctoral associate at University of Michigan’s Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics.

 

Crowd around a fountain

What is Sociology?

Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations, and societies, and how people interact within these contexts.

Because all human behavior is social, the subject matter of sociology ranges from the intimate family to the hostile mob; from organized crime to religious cults; from the divisions of race, gender, and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture; and from the sociology of work to the sociology of sports.

Because sociology addresses the most challenging issues of our time, it is a rapidly expanding field whose potential is increasingly tapped by those who craft policies and create programs.

If you think you might be interested in Sociology, start by taking a class. Or, learn more about the major.

Professor Michael Macy with a grad student

The Graduate Program

Cornell’s Graduate Field of Sociology provides top-notch training toward the PhD in Sociology, and has long been known for its emphasis on both theoretical innovation and methodological rigor. The Field, which is much larger than the Department, has close to thirty faculty members. 

Click here to explore our graduate program.

Sociology Jeopardy

Jeopardy!

Check out the Department's Jeopardy! display case on the 3rd floor of Uris Hall and the corresponding Jeopardy! page, home to solutions, history, and a place where you can share your trivia ideas with us. 

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