Research Interests

Gender and Sexuality, Adolescence, Education.

Research with AHAA

Gender, sexuality and educational outcomes; adolescent sexual behavior; school contexts; social networks/local positions.

Jennifer’s work with the AHAA data explores the interplay of gender, sexuality, and education during adolescence and the transition to adulthood.  Her research with Chandra Muller and Lindsey Wilkinson examines how sexual minority youth fare in school, both in terms of academic success as well as social integration.  In addition, Jennifer has studied how education shapes sexual behavior through its effect on future opportunity and decision making as well as through the transmission of social norms.  She has worked with Sarah Crissey and Catherine Riegle-Crumb exploring gender differences in the academic consequences of sports participation.  Her research with Anna Strassman Mueller and others investigates the role of school contexts in adolescent girls’ body weight perceptions and weight control practices.

Jennifer’s master’s thesis explored the role of gender in adolescents’ sexual decision making.  Her study investigated how social-psychological resources, such as personal control and self-efficacy in sexual negotiation, differentially influence the behavior of young women and men within the inequitable domain of sexual relationships.

In her dissertation research, Jennifer will examine gender equality and differentiation in three aspects of young adults’ heterosexual relationships: the distribution of power, division of labor, and sexual practices.  She will explore the contradictory potential of education as both a tool for change and a mechanism of social reproduction by considering how different educational experiences and trajectories influence these gendered practices.

Papers Using AHAA Data

Pearson, Jennifer, Chandra Muller and Lindsey Wilkinson.  “Adolescent Sexual Orientation and Academic Success: The Role of School Attachment and Engagement.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, PA, August 13-16, 2005.

Crissey, Sarah R., Jennifer Pearson, and Catherine Riegle-Crumb. “Gender Differences in the Effects of Sports Participation on Academic Outcomes.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, PA, August 13-16, 2005.

Mueller, Anna Strassmann, Jennifer Pearson, Kenneth Frank, and Chandra Muller. “Adolescent Girls’ Body Weight: Exploring the Role of School Contexts in Perception & Weight Control.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, PA, August 13-16, 2005.

Pearson, Jennifer and Chandra Muller.  “Adolescent Sexual Behavior and Academic Performance: The Effects of School Context.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, CA, 2004.

Mueller, Anna Strassmann, Jennifer Pearson, Kenneth Frank, Chandra Muller, and Alyn Turner. “Adolescent Girls’ Weight Control & Self-Esteem in the School Context.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, CA, 2004.

Additional Papers

Pearson, Jennifer.  Forthcoming.  “Personal Control, Self-Efficacy in Sexual Negotiation, and Contraceptive Risk among Adolescents: The Role of Gender.”  Sex Roles.

Pearson, Jennifer, Chandra Muller, and Michelle Frisco.  Forthcoming.  “Parental Involvement, Family Structure and Adolescent Sexual Decision Making.”  Sociological Perspectives.

Pearson, Jennifer.  “Gender Differences in Mental Health during Adolescence.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, CA, 2004.

Pearson, Jennifer and Chandra Muller.  “Unpacking the Relationship between Education and Contraceptive Use among Adolescents.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Atlanta,GA, 2003.

Links

Curriculum Vitae
Jennifer Pearson's PRC Webpage