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 National Science
Foundation Award #0547810 |
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CAREER: Toward Improving the Conceptualization and Measurement of Discrimination |
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| Investigator(s): |
Devah Pager (PI)
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| Sponsor: |
Princeton University, NJ 08544 6092583090
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| Start Date/Expiration Date |
2006-04-15 to 2007-03-31 (amended 2006-04-20) |
| Awarded Amount to Date: |
$152,821 |
| Abstract: SES-0547810
Devah Pager
Princeton University
This CAREER project develops a research and teaching program that advances our conceptualization and measurement of discrimination. Racial differences in employment remain among the most intractable sources of economic inequality, and yet the causes of these disparities remain widely disputed. To some, the persistence of racial inequality is a clear sign of the continuing significance of discrimination. To others, discrimination is discounted as the problem of an earlier era, with contemporary disparities explained more effectively by measures of cognitive skill or other ostensibly non-racial variables. Resolution to this debate has in part been obscured by a lack of precise measurement techniques. If headway is to be made in evaluating the relevance of discrimination, there is a need to develop more rigorous measures for examining when and how discrimination takes place. This project has three primary goals. First, the research aims to advance our understanding of the role of discrimination in the economic exclusion of young disadvantaged men. By investigating the prevalence, correlates, and mechanisms underlying employment discrimination, this research will shed light on this important barrier to economic self-sufficiency. Second, this research aims to improve the empirical measurement of discrimination, and to develop a framework of complementary methodologies for studying questions of discrimination. Using experimental field methods, survey designs, in-depth interviews, and laboratory experiments, the PI will develop an integrated research program that builds sequentially and comparatively across research domains. And finally, this research aims to develop a set of tools and resources that can be readily deployed for educational purposes.
Broader Impacts
Questions about the continuing significance of race matter not only for academic discussions, but also for pressing public and policy debates. The recent Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action, for example, focused closely on the question of whether race-based policies are necessary for present-day discrimination. Likewise, the allocation of resources to enforce anti-discrimination laws are based at least in part on evidence of persistent acts of discrimination. Social science research can play a critical role in these discussions. The more we know about when and how discrimination takes place, the more effectively strategies can be developed to reduce its influence. |
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| NSF Org: |
SES - Division of Social and Economic Sciences |
| Award Number: |
0547810 |
| Award Instrument: |
Continuing grant |
| Program Manager: |
Patricia White
SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences
SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences
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| NSF Program(s): |
LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, METHOD, MEASURE & STATS, SOCIOLOGY |
| Field Application(s): |
Human Subjects |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
FACULTY EARLY CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, 1045
PECASE- eligible, 1187
UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION, 9178 |
| Program Element Code(s): |
1372
METHOD, MEASURE & STATS, 1333
SOCIOLOGY, 1331 |
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