Pamela Aronson
Biographic Data
| ID | 146882 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Pamela Aronson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Pamela |
| FAMILY NAME | Aronson |
| SIGNATURE | ARONSON P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Michigan–Dearborn |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8603-4516 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 75 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Surging Ahead But Feeling Stupid: Gendered Understandings of Confidence Among Working-Class College Students
The 'American Dream' under advanced capitalism promises social mobility for groups who were historically locked out of higher education, including women, first generation/working-class students, and students of color. College enrollment among these groups has continued despite obstacles, including structural inequalities. Marginalized students can internalize structural inequalities, which may result in a lack of confidence. To better understand …
Gender Revolution: How Electoral Politics and #MeToo are Reshaping Everyday Life
Gender Revolution carefully examines the profound transformations happening in both public and private arenas of gender relations. It also draws critical attention to the simultaneous and potent challenges that have risen in response. The authors look to large-scale phenomena in this contemporary study and address how electoral politics and the #MeToo movement are reshaping everyday life. This gender revolution has led to a culture in which women…
Spectrum of Gender Self-Presentations among Women Candidates
In the 2018 U.S. midterm elections, Democratic women, especially those from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, were elected in record numbers. Drawing on qualitative website and Twitter bio data, this paper examines twenty key races at varying levels that had women candidates. We extend our previously-developed typology of gender self-presentations by classifying these approaches on a spectrum, ranging from gender traditional on one side to f…
I’m Doing This for Me: ” Gendered Reasons for Enrolling in Postsecondary Education During a Time of Economic Uncertainty
This study examines the gendered experiences of working class, nontraditional postsecondary students in the context of the Great Recession. Based on in-depth interviews with 75 students, and a longitudinal analysis of their academic transcripts 6 to 8 years later, we find that both men and women emphasized the importance of providing for their families. In the context of an economic downturn, interviewees were concerned about improving their job …
Transformations in Sexual Consent
How is the #MeToo movement reshaping everyday life? In this article and our forthcoming book (Gender Revolution: How Electoral Politics and #MeToo are Reshaping Everyday Life, Routledge), we examine the simultaneous profound transformations, and potent challenges to these changes, that we are witnessing in both the public and private arenas. This gender revolution has led to a culture in which people of all genders increasingly reject abuses of p…
Zoom Memes for Self-Quaranteens: Generational Humor, Identity, and Conflict During the Pandemic
The objective of this study is to examine young adults’ perceptions of the pandemic. This study is based on a content analysis of memes posted on one of the most popular emerging–adult-focused Facebook groups established during the pandemic. It finds that three themes emerged: pandemic humor, generational identity humor, and generational conflict humor. Memes about the pandemic include sub-themes of a coming apocalypse, adults who deny the seriou…
Can Respectful Employees Create Equitable Institutions? Promoting a Culture of Respect in the Higher Education Workplace
This paper describes challenges to changing the culture around yellow zone sexual harassment in the higher education workplace. The yellow zone comprises harassment that is often undetected or misunderstood but nonetheless is harmful. Based on a random sample, we surveyed 4554 staff and faculty at a large Midwestern university after they completed a mandatory online training module, assessing perceptions of sexual harassment, reactions to the tra…
I have to start from where I’m capable: ’ How Low-Income Postsecondary Students Overcome Financial and Academic Obstacles
Based on in-depth interviews with 45 low-income students at a four-year commuter university in Metropolitan Detroit, U.S. and a longitudinal analysis of their academic transcripts six to eight years later, this study examines the obstacles experienced by low-income postsecondary students in order to shed light on the reasons why some complete their degrees while others drop out. Among low-income students, we find that those who persist to degree …
Decline of “the American Dream”? Outlook toward the Future across Three Generations of Midwest Families
Expansion of higher education and long-term economic growth have fostered high aspirations among adolescents. Recently, however, deteriorating labor force opportunities, particularly since the “Great Recession,” and rising inequality have challenged the “American Dream.” To assess how parental and adolescent outlooks have evolved over time, we examine shifts in future orientations across three generations of Midwest American families. Our unique …
Gender Self-Presentations in the 2020 U.S. Elections
Ironically, the 2016 election of Donald Trump catalyzed progressive social change in the U.S.. A record number of women and people of color ran for the 2020 presidential nomination of the Democratic party. This election also saw the first openly gay candidate for president. Drawing on qualitative website and Twitter bio data, this article examines the gender self-presentations of twelve Democratic party primary presidential candidates--the eight …
Dual‐Earner Couples
Dual‐earner couples are those in which both partners contribute to the financial support of their household through their work outside the home. They are diverse and their experiences vary based on factors such as marital and parenthood status and sexual orientation. Women in dual‐earner families, especially mothers, continue to face many inequalities in the labor market and household
Nasty Women and Bad Hombres: Gender and Race in the 2016 US Presidential Election
A look at how Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and American voters invoked ideas of gender and race in the fiercely contested 2016 US presidential election.
Tapping and assessing the concept of educational regret: Methodological techniques for opening up biographical reflection
Regret, a negative assessment of an action committed or a path not taken, is a common biographical experience. However, it is a difficult concept to study in social science research. Participants are likely to enact protective barriers to avoid confronting personal responsibility for ‘bad’ decisions. Drawing on examples from an in-depth interview study of postsecondary educational experiences, we examine a technique and set of questions that can …
I've Learned to Love What's Going to Pay Me: A Culture of Despair in Higher Education during a Time of Insecurity
Based on 153 interviews at a mid-sized, commuter university, this article examines the disjuncture between students and alumni on the one hand, and faculty, academic staff and administrators on the other in their perceptions of the challenges facing students who graduate during the Great Recession. Findings reveal a culture of despair in response to economic insecurity for students and graduates: they pursued degrees primarily for a workplace cre…
The transition from college to work during the great recession: Employment, financial, and identity challenges
This study examines the challenges that recent college graduates face in a hard-hit US region during the Great Recession. In their poignant and sometimes heartbreaking perceptions of their 'biggest challenges,' graduates vividly illustrate the negative implications of degree completion during the recession. Based on an analysis of both closed and open-ended survey data of Michigan's 2012 graduates, we find that women and first generation college …
Féministes ou postféministes: Les jeunes femmes, le féminisme et les rapports de genre
Contrairement à une idée communément admise et aux recherches jusqu'ici consacrées à la génération « postféministe », cette recherche étatsunienne montre que les jeunes femmes sont conscientes de l'évolution récente des opportunités ouvertes aux femmes, mais aussi de la permanence des inégalités et des discriminations. Les résultats mettent en lumière à la fois un large soutien envers les objectifs féministes et une attitude ambivalente concernan…
Dual‐Earner Couples
Dual‐earner couples are those in which both partners contribute to the financial support of their household through their work outside the home. These couples are diverse in their family situations and experiences, including marital status, presence of children, and number of hours worked. The number of dual‐earner couples has increased over the last half century, as there has been a shift away from the traditional male breadwinner and female hom…
Breaking barriers or locked out? Class-based perceptions and experiences of postsecondary education
This article provides an overview of objective and subjective class differences in experiences of postsecondary education. Using the metaphor of a funnel, it argues that cumulative disadvantage results when first-generation and low-income college students are disproportionately filtered out at each stage of the postsecondary education process. Subjective class differences largely serve to reproduce existing inequalities, although the potential fo…
The Markers and Meanings of Growing Up: Contemporary Young Women's Transition From Adolescence to Adulthood
Growing up in the shadow of the women's movement dramatically influences how young women think about their life course transitions. Although prior research has examined the objective markers of adulthood, we know little about how young women themselves perceive these markers. This article examines the subjective meanings of the transition to adulthood among 42 young women who were part of the Youth Development Study. While interviewees saw becomi…
Riot Grrrls
Riot Grrrls are participants in a social movement focused on a radical female youth culture. The movement was originally formed as a reaction to a male‐dominated punk rock music scene. With mostly male performers, girls often felt that the issues that concerned them were not reflected in their music. Before Riot Grrrl, girls who listened to this type of music were commonly perceived as connected to punk rock culture through their boyfriends rathe…
Dual‐Earner Couples
Dual‐earner couples are romantically involved (either married or unmarried) and each contribute to the financial support of their household through their work outside the home. The presence of dual‐earner couples has increased over the last 40 years, as there has been a shift away from the traditional male breadwinner and female homemaker family type. The breadwinner‐homemaker model waned in prevalence as women entered the workforce in large numb…
Feminists Or 'Postfeminists: Young Women’s Attitudes toward Feminism and Gender Relations
In contrast to popular presumptions and prior research on women ofthe 'postfeminist' generation, this study found anappreciation for recent historicalchanges in women's opportunities, and an awareness of persisting inequalities and discrimination. The findings reveal support for feminist goals, coupled with ambiguity about the concept offeminism. Although some of the women could be categorized alonga continuum of feminist identification, half wer…
Feminists Or 'Postfeminists: Young Women’s Attitudes toward Feminism and Gender Relations
In contrast to popular presumptions and prior research on women ofthe 'postfeminist' generation, this study found anappreciation for recent historicalchanges in women's opportunities, and an awareness of persisting inequalities and discrimination. The findings reveal support for feminist goals, coupled with ambiguity about the concept offeminism. Although some of the women could be categorized alonga continuum of feminist identification, half wer…
The Markers and Meanings of Growing Up: Contemporary Young Women's Transition From Adolescence to Adulthood
Growing up in the shadow of the women's movement dramatically influences how young women think about their life course transitions. Although prior research has examined the objective markers of adulthood, we know little about how young women themselves perceive these markers. This article examines the subjective meanings of the transition to adulthood among 42 young women who were part of the Youth Development Study. While interviewees saw becomi…
The transition from college to work during the great recession: Employment, financial, and identity challenges
This study examines the challenges that recent college graduates face in a hard-hit US region during the Great Recession. In their poignant and sometimes heartbreaking perceptions of their 'biggest challenges,' graduates vividly illustrate the negative implications of degree completion during the recession. Based on an analysis of both closed and open-ended survey data of Michigan's 2012 graduates, we find that women and first generation college …
I've Learned to Love What's Going to Pay Me: A Culture of Despair in Higher Education during a Time of Insecurity
Based on 153 interviews at a mid-sized, commuter university, this article examines the disjuncture between students and alumni on the one hand, and faculty, academic staff and administrators on the other in their perceptions of the challenges facing students who graduate during the Great Recession. Findings reveal a culture of despair in response to economic insecurity for students and graduates: they pursued degrees primarily for a workplace cre…
Féministes ou postféministes: Les jeunes femmes, le féminisme et les rapports de genre
Contrairement à une idée communément admise et aux recherches jusqu'ici consacrées à la génération « postféministe », cette recherche étatsunienne montre que les jeunes femmes sont conscientes de l'évolution récente des opportunités ouvertes aux femmes, mais aussi de la permanence des inégalités et des discriminations. Les résultats mettent en lumière à la fois un large soutien envers les objectifs féministes et une attitude ambivalente concernan…
I’m Doing This for Me: ” Gendered Reasons for Enrolling in Postsecondary Education During a Time of Economic Uncertainty
This study examines the gendered experiences of working class, nontraditional postsecondary students in the context of the Great Recession. Based on in-depth interviews with 75 students, and a longitudinal analysis of their academic transcripts 6 to 8 years later, we find that both men and women emphasized the importance of providing for their families. In the context of an economic downturn, interviewees were concerned about improving their job …
Can Respectful Employees Create Equitable Institutions? Promoting a Culture of Respect in the Higher Education Workplace
This paper describes challenges to changing the culture around yellow zone sexual harassment in the higher education workplace. The yellow zone comprises harassment that is often undetected or misunderstood but nonetheless is harmful. Based on a random sample, we surveyed 4554 staff and faculty at a large Midwestern university after they completed a mandatory online training module, assessing perceptions of sexual harassment, reactions to the tra…
I have to start from where I’m capable: ’ How Low-Income Postsecondary Students Overcome Financial and Academic Obstacles
Based on in-depth interviews with 45 low-income students at a four-year commuter university in Metropolitan Detroit, U.S. and a longitudinal analysis of their academic transcripts six to eight years later, this study examines the obstacles experienced by low-income postsecondary students in order to shed light on the reasons why some complete their degrees while others drop out. Among low-income students, we find that those who persist to degree …
Gender Self-Presentations in the 2020 U.S. Elections
Ironically, the 2016 election of Donald Trump catalyzed progressive social change in the U.S.. A record number of women and people of color ran for the 2020 presidential nomination of the Democratic party. This election also saw the first openly gay candidate for president. Drawing on qualitative website and Twitter bio data, this article examines the gender self-presentations of twelve Democratic party primary presidential candidates--the eight …
Dual‐Earner Couples
Dual‐earner couples are romantically involved (either married or unmarried) and each contribute to the financial support of their household through their work outside the home. The presence of dual‐earner couples has increased over the last 40 years, as there has been a shift away from the traditional male breadwinner and female homemaker family type. The breadwinner‐homemaker model waned in prevalence as women entered the workforce in large numb…
Feminists Or 'Postfeminists: Young Women’s Attitudes toward Feminism and Gender Relations
In contrast to popular presumptions and prior research on women ofthe 'postfeminist' generation, this study found anappreciation for recent historicalchanges in women's opportunities, and an awareness of persisting inequalities and discrimination. The findings reveal support for feminist goals, coupled with ambiguity about the concept offeminism. Although some of the women could be categorized alonga continuum of feminist identification, half wer…
Riot Grrrls
Riot Grrrls are participants in a social movement focused on a radical female youth culture. The movement was originally formed as a reaction to a male‐dominated punk rock music scene. With mostly male performers, girls often felt that the issues that concerned them were not reflected in their music. Before Riot Grrrl, girls who listened to this type of music were commonly perceived as connected to punk rock culture through their boyfriends rathe…
Dual‐Earner Couples
Dual‐earner couples are romantically involved (either married or unmarried) and each contribute to the financial support of their household through their work outside the home. The presence of dual‐earner couples has increased over the last 40 years, as there has been a shift away from the traditional male breadwinner and female homemaker family type. The breadwinner‐homemaker model waned in prevalence as women entered the workforce in large numb…
Breaking barriers or locked out? Class-based perceptions and experiences of postsecondary education
This article provides an overview of objective and subjective class differences in experiences of postsecondary education. Using the metaphor of a funnel, it argues that cumulative disadvantage results when first-generation and low-income college students are disproportionately filtered out at each stage of the postsecondary education process. Subjective class differences largely serve to reproduce existing inequalities, although the potential fo…
The Markers and Meanings of Growing Up: Contemporary Young Women's Transition From Adolescence to Adulthood
Growing up in the shadow of the women's movement dramatically influences how young women think about their life course transitions. Although prior research has examined the objective markers of adulthood, we know little about how young women themselves perceive these markers. This article examines the subjective meanings of the transition to adulthood among 42 young women who were part of the Youth Development Study. While interviewees saw becomi…
Dual‐Earner Couples
Dual‐earner couples are those in which both partners contribute to the financial support of their household through their work outside the home. These couples are diverse in their family situations and experiences, including marital status, presence of children, and number of hours worked. The number of dual‐earner couples has increased over the last half century, as there has been a shift away from the traditional male breadwinner and female hom…
The transition from college to work during the great recession: Employment, financial, and identity challenges
This study examines the challenges that recent college graduates face in a hard-hit US region during the Great Recession. In their poignant and sometimes heartbreaking perceptions of their 'biggest challenges,' graduates vividly illustrate the negative implications of degree completion during the recession. Based on an analysis of both closed and open-ended survey data of Michigan's 2012 graduates, we find that women and first generation college …
Féministes ou postféministes: Les jeunes femmes, le féminisme et les rapports de genre
Contrairement à une idée communément admise et aux recherches jusqu'ici consacrées à la génération « postféministe », cette recherche étatsunienne montre que les jeunes femmes sont conscientes de l'évolution récente des opportunités ouvertes aux femmes, mais aussi de la permanence des inégalités et des discriminations. Les résultats mettent en lumière à la fois un large soutien envers les objectifs féministes et une attitude ambivalente concernan…
I've Learned to Love What's Going to Pay Me: A Culture of Despair in Higher Education during a Time of Insecurity
Based on 153 interviews at a mid-sized, commuter university, this article examines the disjuncture between students and alumni on the one hand, and faculty, academic staff and administrators on the other in their perceptions of the challenges facing students who graduate during the Great Recession. Findings reveal a culture of despair in response to economic insecurity for students and graduates: they pursued degrees primarily for a workplace cre…
Nasty Women and Bad Hombres: Gender and Race in the 2016 US Presidential Election
A look at how Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and American voters invoked ideas of gender and race in the fiercely contested 2016 US presidential election.
Tapping and assessing the concept of educational regret: Methodological techniques for opening up biographical reflection
Regret, a negative assessment of an action committed or a path not taken, is a common biographical experience. However, it is a difficult concept to study in social science research. Participants are likely to enact protective barriers to avoid confronting personal responsibility for ‘bad’ decisions. Drawing on examples from an in-depth interview study of postsecondary educational experiences, we examine a technique and set of questions that can …
Decline of “the American Dream”? Outlook toward the Future across Three Generations of Midwest Families
Expansion of higher education and long-term economic growth have fostered high aspirations among adolescents. Recently, however, deteriorating labor force opportunities, particularly since the “Great Recession,” and rising inequality have challenged the “American Dream.” To assess how parental and adolescent outlooks have evolved over time, we examine shifts in future orientations across three generations of Midwest American families. Our unique …
Gender Self-Presentations in the 2020 U.S. Elections
Ironically, the 2016 election of Donald Trump catalyzed progressive social change in the U.S.. A record number of women and people of color ran for the 2020 presidential nomination of the Democratic party. This election also saw the first openly gay candidate for president. Drawing on qualitative website and Twitter bio data, this article examines the gender self-presentations of twelve Democratic party primary presidential candidates--the eight …
Dual‐Earner Couples
Dual‐earner couples are those in which both partners contribute to the financial support of their household through their work outside the home. They are diverse and their experiences vary based on factors such as marital and parenthood status and sexual orientation. Women in dual‐earner families, especially mothers, continue to face many inequalities in the labor market and household
Zoom Memes for Self-Quaranteens: Generational Humor, Identity, and Conflict During the Pandemic
The objective of this study is to examine young adults’ perceptions of the pandemic. This study is based on a content analysis of memes posted on one of the most popular emerging–adult-focused Facebook groups established during the pandemic. It finds that three themes emerged: pandemic humor, generational identity humor, and generational conflict humor. Memes about the pandemic include sub-themes of a coming apocalypse, adults who deny the seriou…
Can Respectful Employees Create Equitable Institutions? Promoting a Culture of Respect in the Higher Education Workplace
This paper describes challenges to changing the culture around yellow zone sexual harassment in the higher education workplace. The yellow zone comprises harassment that is often undetected or misunderstood but nonetheless is harmful. Based on a random sample, we surveyed 4554 staff and faculty at a large Midwestern university after they completed a mandatory online training module, assessing perceptions of sexual harassment, reactions to the tra…
I have to start from where I’m capable: ’ How Low-Income Postsecondary Students Overcome Financial and Academic Obstacles
Based on in-depth interviews with 45 low-income students at a four-year commuter university in Metropolitan Detroit, U.S. and a longitudinal analysis of their academic transcripts six to eight years later, this study examines the obstacles experienced by low-income postsecondary students in order to shed light on the reasons why some complete their degrees while others drop out. Among low-income students, we find that those who persist to degree …
Transformations in Sexual Consent
How is the #MeToo movement reshaping everyday life? In this article and our forthcoming book (Gender Revolution: How Electoral Politics and #MeToo are Reshaping Everyday Life, Routledge), we examine the simultaneous profound transformations, and potent challenges to these changes, that we are witnessing in both the public and private arenas. This gender revolution has led to a culture in which people of all genders increasingly reject abuses of p…
Gender Revolution: How Electoral Politics and #MeToo are Reshaping Everyday Life
Gender Revolution carefully examines the profound transformations happening in both public and private arenas of gender relations. It also draws critical attention to the simultaneous and potent challenges that have risen in response. The authors look to large-scale phenomena in this contemporary study and address how electoral politics and the #MeToo movement are reshaping everyday life. This gender revolution has led to a culture in which women…
Spectrum of Gender Self-Presentations among Women Candidates
In the 2018 U.S. midterm elections, Democratic women, especially those from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, were elected in record numbers. Drawing on qualitative website and Twitter bio data, this paper examines twenty key races at varying levels that had women candidates. We extend our previously-developed typology of gender self-presentations by classifying these approaches on a spectrum, ranging from gender traditional on one side to f…
I’m Doing This for Me: ” Gendered Reasons for Enrolling in Postsecondary Education During a Time of Economic Uncertainty
This study examines the gendered experiences of working class, nontraditional postsecondary students in the context of the Great Recession. Based on in-depth interviews with 75 students, and a longitudinal analysis of their academic transcripts 6 to 8 years later, we find that both men and women emphasized the importance of providing for their families. In the context of an economic downturn, interviewees were concerned about improving their job …
Surging Ahead But Feeling Stupid: Gendered Understandings of Confidence Among Working-Class College Students
The 'American Dream' under advanced capitalism promises social mobility for groups who were historically locked out of higher education, including women, first generation/working-class students, and students of color. College enrollment among these groups has continued despite obstacles, including structural inequalities. Marginalized students can internalize structural inequalities, which may result in a lack of confidence. To better understand …
Psychology (16 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Political science (12 works) · Economics (9 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Demographic economics (6 works) · Politics (6 works) · Gender Studies (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Demography (4 works)