Political and Civic (Dis)Engagement of the College-Educated Working Class

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Yao Lu

Professor of Sociology, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 

Award: $30,000

Yao’s project examines how rising unemployment and underemployment among college graduates in the United States are giving rise to a new college-educated working class, and how members of this group interpret and respond to economic insecurity and employment hardship in political and civic life. Using a mixed-methods approach, the team combines survey data with in-depth interviews to explore employment conditions, patterns of political and civic engagement, and the adaptive coping strategies of precariously employed graduates and comparison groups.

Collaborator

  • Ruth Milkman, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and CUNY Graduate Center

 

Photo of Ruth Milkman
Ruth Milkman