N Quadlin
Biographic Data
| ID | 30506 |
|---|---|
| NAME | N Quadlin |
| GIVEN NAMES | N |
| FAMILY NAME | Quadlin |
| SIGNATURE | QUADLIN N |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Los Angeles |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5854-8250 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 284 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Who Can Afford to Be an English Major? Economic Origins, Debt, and Public Beliefs about Higher Education
In recent years, many Americans have grown critical of the cost of college, often drawing distinctions between which degrees are more and less worthwhile. These discussions have emerged at the same time that working-class and indebted students have become increasingly prevalent in higher education, underscoring vast differences in social origins and economic resources even among students at the same institution. Do Americans tend to make sharp di…
Regrets, she's had a few: Gender and regret of computer science and engineering degrees
Stability and change in the academic qualifications of recent men and women college entrants
The Economic Context of Higher Education Expansion: Race, Gender, and Household Finances Across Cohorts and Generations
This article assesses how the economic context of higher education expansion since the mid-20th century has shaped families’ financial lives—in terms of income and wealth/debt—as well as how these trends have differed for Black and White women and men. We use data from the NLSY-79 (comprising trailing-edge Baby Boomers) and NLSY-97 (comprising early Millennials) to show how academically similar students in these two cohorts fared in terms of educ…
Using experiments to study families and intimate relationships
Social scientists increasingly are using experiments to examine causal processes and mechanisms in their research. Yet, experiments work much better for some research aims than others. Some goals that are of great interest to family scholars, such as testing theoretical arguments, are well-suited to experimental approaches; other goals, such as documenting real-world experiences, may be best served by another research design. Our aim in this arti…
First-Generation Students, College Majors, and Gendered Pathways
Emerging literatures have highlighted the social- and resource-related inequalities among first-generation college students. Less attention has been devoted to the curricular pathways (i.e., college majors) these students follow and their potentially gendered character. We build on educational inequality and gender literatures in this article, and arguments surrounding habitus and class-based dispositions to address this gap. Our analyses draw on…
Higher education and high-wage gender inequality
Over the past 60 years, we have witnessed a relocation of gender wage inequality. Whereas the largest wage gaps were once concentrated among lower-paid, lower-educated workers, today these wage gaps sit among the highest-paid, highly-educated workers. Given this reordering of gender wage inequality and the centrality of college graduates to total inequality trends, in this article, we assess the contribution of higher education mechanisms to top-…
Untangling perceptions of atypical parents
Objective This study examines how the public perceives of five types of “atypical” parents in the United States—single mothers, single fathers, lesbian couples, gay couples, and adoptive parents—including, critically, the factors that contribute to these perceptions. Background Although a handful of studies have considered attitudes toward atypical parents, virtually no studies have considered why people hold the attitudes they do. In addition, f…
Race, Gender, Higher Education, and Socioeconomic Attainment: Evidence from Baby Boomers at Midlife
This article investigates White, Black, and Hispanic men’s and women’s access and midlife labor market returns to college quality. To do so, we use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 Cohort (NLSY-79), merged with college quality information from the Barron’s Admissions Competitiveness Index. Although prior research has investigated similar dynamics in access and returns to higher education, this work typically excludes Hispa…
Do Perceptions of Privilege Enhance—or Impede—Perceptions of Intelligence? Evidence from a National Survey Experiment
Scholars have long criticized the notion of meritocracy, in part because many achievements that are ostensibly earned stem from the intergenerational transmission of advantage. Although much research has demonstrated this link, fewer studies have considered public attitudes toward these constructs, including whether perceptions of privilege mitigate the symbolic power that educational accomplishments hold. In this article, I use data from an orig…
Shadow education, pandemic style: Social class, race, and supplemental education during Covid-19
Research on shadow education-i.e., one-on-one or group learning intended to supplement children's experiences in school-has documented persistent social class and racial/ethnic inequalities. Yet, as with many things during the Covid-19 pandemic, the nature of shadow education changed dramatically. Much supplemental education shifted online, potentially increasing accessibility; many universities became testoptional, potentially reducing the deman…
When a Name Gives You Pause: Racialized Names and Time to Adoption in a County Dog Shelter
Racialized names carry both penalties and premiums in social life. Prior research on implicit associations shows that racialized names tend to activate feelings of racial bias, such that people are more positively inclined toward White-sounding names than they are toward Black- and Hispanic-sounding names. But to what extent do racialized names continue to matter when they do not belong to people? In this article, we use an original data set coll…
Striving for Equality in an Unequal World
Same major, same economic returns? College selectivity and earnings inequality in young adulthood
Fields of study are a persistent source of inequality among college graduates in the U.S., but surprisingly few studies have investigated factors that predict earnings within these fields. In this article, we focus on one dimension that has been central to studies of inequality in higher education—college selectivity—to examine how young adult earnings are stratified among college graduates who majored in the same fields, using data from the Educ…
Gender Inequality in STEM Employment and Earnings at Career Entry: Evidence from Millennial Birth Cohorts
Although science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors remain male dominated, women's greater enrollment in STEM is one of the greatest transformations to occur in U.S. higher education in the past half century. But to what extent have women's gains in STEM enrollment translated to greater parity in labor market outcomes? Although the challenges women face in STEM have been well documented, questions about the influence of gende…
Race, Gender, and Parental College Savings: Assessing Economic and Academic Factors
This article assesses the relationships between race, gender, and parental college savings. Some prior studies have investigated race differences in parental college savings, yet none have taken an intersectional approach, and most of these studies were conducted with cohorts of students who predate key demographic changes among U.S. college goers (e.g., the reversal of the gender gap in college completion). Drawing on theories of parental invest…
Gendered Dignity at Work
From Major Preferences to Major Choices: Gender and Logics of Major Choice
Research shows that college students choose majors for a variety of reasons. Some students are motivated by potential economic returns, others want to take engaging classes, and others still would like opportunities to help people in their jobs. But how do these preferences map onto students' actual major choices? This question is particularly intriguing in light of gender differences in fields of study, as men and women may take divergent pathwa…
Sibling Achievement, Sibling Gender, and Beliefs about Parental Investment: Evidence from a National Survey Experiment
When siblings have different characteristics—such as different achievement or different gender—how should parents invest in their education? Although many studies have examined issues of parental investment using behavioral data, this research is often hindered by methodological constraints, including endogeneity and an inability to isolate the effects of predictor variables. This article takes an alternative approach by using data from an origin…
Americans' Perceptions of Transgender People's Sex: Evidence from a National Survey Experiment
Drawing on the first national survey experiment of its kind ( n = 3,922), the authors examine Americans' perceptions of transgender people's sex and the factors that underlie these perceptions. The authors randomly assigned respondents to a vignette condition describing a transgender person whose self-identified gender (i.e., identifies as a man or a woman), age (i.e., adult or teenager), and gender conformity in physical appearance (i.e., confor…
Partner Characteristics and Perceptions of Responsibility for Housework and Child Care
Objective: This study examines how partner characteristics (i.e., relative income, gender, gender expression) causally affect perceptions of responsibility for housework and child care in heterosexual and same-sex couples.Background: Although past research has frequently investigated how couples divide chores and child-care tasks, few studies have examined Americans' normative beliefs about the division of household labor. This is an important ov…
The Mark of a Woman's Record: Gender and Academic Performance in Hiring
Women earn better grades than men across levels of education-but to what end? This article assesses whether men and women receive equal returns to academic performance in hiring. I conducted an audit study by submitting 2,106 job applications that experimentally manipulated applicants' GPA, gender, and college major. Although GPA matters little for men, women benefit from moderate achievement but not high achievement. As a result, high-achieving …
Sex-Typed Chores and the City: Gender, Urbanicity, and Housework
How does place structure the gendered division of household labor? Because people's living spaces and lifestyles differ dramatically across urban, suburban, and rural areas, it follows that time spent on household chores may vary across places. In cities, for example, many households do not have vehicles or lawns, and housing units tend to be relatively small. Urban men's and women's time use therefore provides insight into how partners contribut…
Funding Sources, Family Income, and Fields of Study in College
Research shows that receiving loans, family contributions, and grants has implications for students both during and after college, but one key outcome has been overlooked: fields of study. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1997 cohort (NLSY-97), this study is the first to assess how college funding is associated with first-term majors and course selection throughout college. I posit that funding sources effectively constra…
Gender and time use in college: Converging or Diverging Pathways
Gender differences in children's and adults' time use are well documented, but few have examined the intervening period-young adulthood. Because many Americans navigate higher education in young adulthood, college time use provides insight into how gendered behaviors evolve during this critical life stage. Using three years of time use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen and latent transition analysis, I examine gender differen…
The Mark of a Woman's Record: Gender and Academic Performance in Hiring
Women earn better grades than men across levels of education-but to what end? This article assesses whether men and women receive equal returns to academic performance in hiring. I conducted an audit study by submitting 2,106 job applications that experimentally manipulated applicants' GPA, gender, and college major. Although GPA matters little for men, women benefit from moderate achievement but not high achievement. As a result, high-achieving …
Partner Characteristics and Perceptions of Responsibility for Housework and Child Care
Objective: This study examines how partner characteristics (i.e., relative income, gender, gender expression) causally affect perceptions of responsibility for housework and child care in heterosexual and same-sex couples.Background: Although past research has frequently investigated how couples divide chores and child-care tasks, few studies have examined Americans' normative beliefs about the division of household labor. This is an important ov…
Public Opinion, the Courts, and Same-sex Marriage: Four Lessons Learned
Social scientists often have been called upon to weigh in on social issues, and same-sex marriage is no exception. We draw on quantitative and qualitative data from a national survey to evaluate four of the most prominent arguments raised by opponents of same-sex marriage in court cases. Our data undermine these claims, leading to four lessons about same-sex marriage that we can surmise from public opinion: (1) opposition to same-sex marriage is …
From Major Preferences to Major Choices: Gender and Logics of Major Choice
Research shows that college students choose majors for a variety of reasons. Some students are motivated by potential economic returns, others want to take engaging classes, and others still would like opportunities to help people in their jobs. But how do these preferences map onto students' actual major choices? This question is particularly intriguing in light of gender differences in fields of study, as men and women may take divergent pathwa…
Sex-Typed Chores and the City: Gender, Urbanicity, and Housework
How does place structure the gendered division of household labor? Because people's living spaces and lifestyles differ dramatically across urban, suburban, and rural areas, it follows that time spent on household chores may vary across places. In cities, for example, many households do not have vehicles or lawns, and housing units tend to be relatively small. Urban men's and women's time use therefore provides insight into how partners contribut…
Americans' Perceptions of Transgender People's Sex: Evidence from a National Survey Experiment
Drawing on the first national survey experiment of its kind ( n = 3,922), the authors examine Americans' perceptions of transgender people's sex and the factors that underlie these perceptions. The authors randomly assigned respondents to a vignette condition describing a transgender person whose self-identified gender (i.e., identifies as a man or a woman), age (i.e., adult or teenager), and gender conformity in physical appearance (i.e., confor…
When children affect parents: Children's academic performance and parental investment
First-Generation Students, College Majors, and Gendered Pathways
Emerging literatures have highlighted the social- and resource-related inequalities among first-generation college students. Less attention has been devoted to the curricular pathways (i.e., college majors) these students follow and their potentially gendered character. We build on educational inequality and gender literatures in this article, and arguments surrounding habitus and class-based dispositions to address this gap. Our analyses draw on…
Race, Gender, and Parental College Savings: Assessing Economic and Academic Factors
This article assesses the relationships between race, gender, and parental college savings. Some prior studies have investigated race differences in parental college savings, yet none have taken an intersectional approach, and most of these studies were conducted with cohorts of students who predate key demographic changes among U.S. college goers (e.g., the reversal of the gender gap in college completion). Drawing on theories of parental invest…
Shadow education, pandemic style: Social class, race, and supplemental education during Covid-19
Research on shadow education-i.e., one-on-one or group learning intended to supplement children's experiences in school-has documented persistent social class and racial/ethnic inequalities. Yet, as with many things during the Covid-19 pandemic, the nature of shadow education changed dramatically. Much supplemental education shifted online, potentially increasing accessibility; many universities became testoptional, potentially reducing the deman…
Same major, same economic returns? College selectivity and earnings inequality in young adulthood
Fields of study are a persistent source of inequality among college graduates in the U.S., but surprisingly few studies have investigated factors that predict earnings within these fields. In this article, we focus on one dimension that has been central to studies of inequality in higher education—college selectivity—to examine how young adult earnings are stratified among college graduates who majored in the same fields, using data from the Educ…
Gender Inequality in STEM Employment and Earnings at Career Entry: Evidence from Millennial Birth Cohorts
Although science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors remain male dominated, women's greater enrollment in STEM is one of the greatest transformations to occur in U.S. higher education in the past half century. But to what extent have women's gains in STEM enrollment translated to greater parity in labor market outcomes? Although the challenges women face in STEM have been well documented, questions about the influence of gende…
Gender and time use in college: Converging or Diverging Pathways
Gender differences in children's and adults' time use are well documented, but few have examined the intervening period-young adulthood. Because many Americans navigate higher education in young adulthood, college time use provides insight into how gendered behaviors evolve during this critical life stage. Using three years of time use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen and latent transition analysis, I examine gender differen…
Higher education and high-wage gender inequality
Over the past 60 years, we have witnessed a relocation of gender wage inequality. Whereas the largest wage gaps were once concentrated among lower-paid, lower-educated workers, today these wage gaps sit among the highest-paid, highly-educated workers. Given this reordering of gender wage inequality and the centrality of college graduates to total inequality trends, in this article, we assess the contribution of higher education mechanisms to top-…
Gendered Dignity at Work
Do Perceptions of Privilege Enhance—or Impede—Perceptions of Intelligence? Evidence from a National Survey Experiment
Scholars have long criticized the notion of meritocracy, in part because many achievements that are ostensibly earned stem from the intergenerational transmission of advantage. Although much research has demonstrated this link, fewer studies have considered public attitudes toward these constructs, including whether perceptions of privilege mitigate the symbolic power that educational accomplishments hold. In this article, I use data from an orig…
When a Name Gives You Pause: Racialized Names and Time to Adoption in a County Dog Shelter
Racialized names carry both penalties and premiums in social life. Prior research on implicit associations shows that racialized names tend to activate feelings of racial bias, such that people are more positively inclined toward White-sounding names than they are toward Black- and Hispanic-sounding names. But to what extent do racialized names continue to matter when they do not belong to people? In this article, we use an original data set coll…
Stability and change in the academic qualifications of recent men and women college entrants
Using experiments to study families and intimate relationships
Social scientists increasingly are using experiments to examine causal processes and mechanisms in their research. Yet, experiments work much better for some research aims than others. Some goals that are of great interest to family scholars, such as testing theoretical arguments, are well-suited to experimental approaches; other goals, such as documenting real-world experiences, may be best served by another research design. Our aim in this arti…
Striving for Equality in an Unequal World
Public Opinion, the Courts, and Same-sex Marriage: Four Lessons Learned
Social scientists often have been called upon to weigh in on social issues, and same-sex marriage is no exception. We draw on quantitative and qualitative data from a national survey to evaluate four of the most prominent arguments raised by opponents of same-sex marriage in court cases. Our data undermine these claims, leading to four lessons about same-sex marriage that we can surmise from public opinion: (1) opposition to same-sex marriage is …
When children affect parents: Children's academic performance and parental investment
Gender and time use in college: Converging or Diverging Pathways
Gender differences in children's and adults' time use are well documented, but few have examined the intervening period-young adulthood. Because many Americans navigate higher education in young adulthood, college time use provides insight into how gendered behaviors evolve during this critical life stage. Using three years of time use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen and latent transition analysis, I examine gender differen…
Funding Sources, Family Income, and Fields of Study in College
Research shows that receiving loans, family contributions, and grants has implications for students both during and after college, but one key outcome has been overlooked: fields of study. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1997 cohort (NLSY-97), this study is the first to assess how college funding is associated with first-term majors and course selection throughout college. I posit that funding sources effectively constra…
The Mark of a Woman's Record: Gender and Academic Performance in Hiring
Women earn better grades than men across levels of education-but to what end? This article assesses whether men and women receive equal returns to academic performance in hiring. I conducted an audit study by submitting 2,106 job applications that experimentally manipulated applicants' GPA, gender, and college major. Although GPA matters little for men, women benefit from moderate achievement but not high achievement. As a result, high-achieving …
Sex-Typed Chores and the City: Gender, Urbanicity, and Housework
How does place structure the gendered division of household labor? Because people's living spaces and lifestyles differ dramatically across urban, suburban, and rural areas, it follows that time spent on household chores may vary across places. In cities, for example, many households do not have vehicles or lawns, and housing units tend to be relatively small. Urban men's and women's time use therefore provides insight into how partners contribut…
Sibling Achievement, Sibling Gender, and Beliefs about Parental Investment: Evidence from a National Survey Experiment
When siblings have different characteristics—such as different achievement or different gender—how should parents invest in their education? Although many studies have examined issues of parental investment using behavioral data, this research is often hindered by methodological constraints, including endogeneity and an inability to isolate the effects of predictor variables. This article takes an alternative approach by using data from an origin…
Americans' Perceptions of Transgender People's Sex: Evidence from a National Survey Experiment
Drawing on the first national survey experiment of its kind ( n = 3,922), the authors examine Americans' perceptions of transgender people's sex and the factors that underlie these perceptions. The authors randomly assigned respondents to a vignette condition describing a transgender person whose self-identified gender (i.e., identifies as a man or a woman), age (i.e., adult or teenager), and gender conformity in physical appearance (i.e., confor…
Partner Characteristics and Perceptions of Responsibility for Housework and Child Care
Objective: This study examines how partner characteristics (i.e., relative income, gender, gender expression) causally affect perceptions of responsibility for housework and child care in heterosexual and same-sex couples.Background: Although past research has frequently investigated how couples divide chores and child-care tasks, few studies have examined Americans' normative beliefs about the division of household labor. This is an important ov…
From Major Preferences to Major Choices: Gender and Logics of Major Choice
Research shows that college students choose majors for a variety of reasons. Some students are motivated by potential economic returns, others want to take engaging classes, and others still would like opportunities to help people in their jobs. But how do these preferences map onto students' actual major choices? This question is particularly intriguing in light of gender differences in fields of study, as men and women may take divergent pathwa…
Same major, same economic returns? College selectivity and earnings inequality in young adulthood
Fields of study are a persistent source of inequality among college graduates in the U.S., but surprisingly few studies have investigated factors that predict earnings within these fields. In this article, we focus on one dimension that has been central to studies of inequality in higher education—college selectivity—to examine how young adult earnings are stratified among college graduates who majored in the same fields, using data from the Educ…
Gender Inequality in STEM Employment and Earnings at Career Entry: Evidence from Millennial Birth Cohorts
Although science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors remain male dominated, women's greater enrollment in STEM is one of the greatest transformations to occur in U.S. higher education in the past half century. But to what extent have women's gains in STEM enrollment translated to greater parity in labor market outcomes? Although the challenges women face in STEM have been well documented, questions about the influence of gende…
Race, Gender, and Parental College Savings: Assessing Economic and Academic Factors
This article assesses the relationships between race, gender, and parental college savings. Some prior studies have investigated race differences in parental college savings, yet none have taken an intersectional approach, and most of these studies were conducted with cohorts of students who predate key demographic changes among U.S. college goers (e.g., the reversal of the gender gap in college completion). Drawing on theories of parental invest…
Gendered Dignity at Work
Untangling perceptions of atypical parents
Objective This study examines how the public perceives of five types of “atypical” parents in the United States—single mothers, single fathers, lesbian couples, gay couples, and adoptive parents—including, critically, the factors that contribute to these perceptions. Background Although a handful of studies have considered attitudes toward atypical parents, virtually no studies have considered why people hold the attitudes they do. In addition, f…
Race, Gender, Higher Education, and Socioeconomic Attainment: Evidence from Baby Boomers at Midlife
This article investigates White, Black, and Hispanic men’s and women’s access and midlife labor market returns to college quality. To do so, we use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 Cohort (NLSY-79), merged with college quality information from the Barron’s Admissions Competitiveness Index. Although prior research has investigated similar dynamics in access and returns to higher education, this work typically excludes Hispa…
Do Perceptions of Privilege Enhance—or Impede—Perceptions of Intelligence? Evidence from a National Survey Experiment
Scholars have long criticized the notion of meritocracy, in part because many achievements that are ostensibly earned stem from the intergenerational transmission of advantage. Although much research has demonstrated this link, fewer studies have considered public attitudes toward these constructs, including whether perceptions of privilege mitigate the symbolic power that educational accomplishments hold. In this article, I use data from an orig…
Shadow education, pandemic style: Social class, race, and supplemental education during Covid-19
Research on shadow education-i.e., one-on-one or group learning intended to supplement children's experiences in school-has documented persistent social class and racial/ethnic inequalities. Yet, as with many things during the Covid-19 pandemic, the nature of shadow education changed dramatically. Much supplemental education shifted online, potentially increasing accessibility; many universities became testoptional, potentially reducing the deman…
When a Name Gives You Pause: Racialized Names and Time to Adoption in a County Dog Shelter
Racialized names carry both penalties and premiums in social life. Prior research on implicit associations shows that racialized names tend to activate feelings of racial bias, such that people are more positively inclined toward White-sounding names than they are toward Black- and Hispanic-sounding names. But to what extent do racialized names continue to matter when they do not belong to people? In this article, we use an original data set coll…
Striving for Equality in an Unequal World
First-Generation Students, College Majors, and Gendered Pathways
Emerging literatures have highlighted the social- and resource-related inequalities among first-generation college students. Less attention has been devoted to the curricular pathways (i.e., college majors) these students follow and their potentially gendered character. We build on educational inequality and gender literatures in this article, and arguments surrounding habitus and class-based dispositions to address this gap. Our analyses draw on…
Higher education and high-wage gender inequality
Over the past 60 years, we have witnessed a relocation of gender wage inequality. Whereas the largest wage gaps were once concentrated among lower-paid, lower-educated workers, today these wage gaps sit among the highest-paid, highly-educated workers. Given this reordering of gender wage inequality and the centrality of college graduates to total inequality trends, in this article, we assess the contribution of higher education mechanisms to top-…
The Economic Context of Higher Education Expansion: Race, Gender, and Household Finances Across Cohorts and Generations
This article assesses how the economic context of higher education expansion since the mid-20th century has shaped families’ financial lives—in terms of income and wealth/debt—as well as how these trends have differed for Black and White women and men. We use data from the NLSY-79 (comprising trailing-edge Baby Boomers) and NLSY-97 (comprising early Millennials) to show how academically similar students in these two cohorts fared in terms of educ…
Using experiments to study families and intimate relationships
Social scientists increasingly are using experiments to examine causal processes and mechanisms in their research. Yet, experiments work much better for some research aims than others. Some goals that are of great interest to family scholars, such as testing theoretical arguments, are well-suited to experimental approaches; other goals, such as documenting real-world experiences, may be best served by another research design. Our aim in this arti…
Stability and change in the academic qualifications of recent men and women college entrants
Psychology (21 works) · Sociology (17 works) · Political science (15 works) · Economics (14 works) · Demographic economics (13 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Higher Education Research Studies (10 works) · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality (9 works) · Inequality (8 works) · Economic growth (7 works)