Research Interests

Gender and Race/Ethnic Inequality in Education, Post-Secondary Education, Transition to Adulthood, Social Stratification.

Role on AHAA Project

Dr. Riegle-Crumb constructed many of the variables available in the first release of AHAA, including the math and science sequence variables, based in large part on her experience with other national transcript studies, including NAEP and NELS. She also developed the User's Guide to AHAA to document the data and provide relevant information for researchers.

Current Research

Dr. Riegle-Crumb is currently conducting research with AHAA focusing on the relationship between school and community characteristics and gender and race/ethnic disparities in advanced high school course-taking, with a particular focus on science and math. She is interested in exploring the broader social and contextual influences that shape students' academic choices in high school.

Recently, Dr. Riegle-Crumb and Dr. Chandra Muller were awarded a NSF grant to examine the role of social context (as found in the norms, stereotypes and academic opportunities of schools and their surrounding communities) on the science and math trajectories of girls and young women. A basic foundation of this new project is the consideration of diversity, to understand how the science and math-related experiences of African American girls and Latinas, as well as girls from immigrant families, differ from those of majority girls.

Dr. Riegle-Crumb is also conducting research that examines the intersection of education and health among youth. With Dr. Robert Crosnoe, she is examining the role of students' academic achievement in high school on their drinking behaviors in young adulthood. Also, with Dr. Shannon Cavanagh, she is exploring how the timing of puberty among adolescent girls impacts their academic trajectories in high school.

Additionally, Dr. Riegle-Crumb is beginning work examining the transition to adulthood using the AHAA and Add Health data. This includes attention to individuals' post-secondary educational and social experiences, and the way in which the transition to young adulthood marks either a departure or a continuation of students' academic and non-academic histories. Together with Dr. Chandra Muller and other AHAA study members, she is working on a new grant proposal that entails the collection of the post-secondary transcripts of AHAA students.

Links

Curriculum Vitae
Catherine Reigle-Crumb's PRC Webpage