Professor, Sociology
School of Social Sciences

International migration, educational inequality, urban sociology

Winner of the 2016 Otis Dudley Duncan Award for best book from the Population Section of the American Sociological Association.

Susan K. Brown examines how immigrant groups integrate into the United States across multiple dimensions, such as education, income, language, political involvement, and residential location. In work with Frank D. Bean and James Bachmeier on Mexican-Americans, she shows the importance of the legal status of immigrant parents, especially mothers, for the mobility of children. Other research shows how cities with more accommodating policies enable immigrant groups to integrate along some of these dimensions independently of others, rather than constraining immigrants to try to move along every dimension at once. A third line of demographic research examines the decline in the less-educated native-born population of working ages and what that means for immigration.

Dr. Brown also directs the UCI master’s program in Demographic and Social Analysis. She teaches courses on population, immigration, community, and educational inequality. She earned her master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Washington and her bachelor's degree at Harvard/Radcliffe College.

“Gendered Consequences: Multigenerational Schooling Effects of IRCA." (With Stephanie A. Pullés). 2017. American Behavioral Scientist. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764217732107

“Parental Legal Status and the Political Engagement of Mexican Americans.” (With Alejandra Jazmin Sanchez.) 2017. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 3(4): 136-147.

"Migration Status and Political Knowledge Among Latino Immigrants" (With Frank D. Bean). 2016. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 2(3): 22-41.

"Conceptualizing Migration: From Internal/International to Kinds of Membership." (With Frank D. Bean.) 2016. Pp. 91-106 in International Handbook on Migration and Population Distribution, edited by Michael J. White. Springer

Parents Without Papers: The Progress and Pitfalls of Mexican-American Integration. (With Frank D. Bean and James D. Bachmeier.) 2015. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

"The dimensions and degree of second-generation incorporation in US and European cities: A comparative study of inclusion and exclusion." (With Frank D. Bean, James D. Bachmeier, Tineke Fokkema, and Laurence Lessard-Phillips.) 2012. International Journal of Comparative Sociology 53(3): 181-209

"The Link Between the Transnational Behaviour and Integration of the Second Generation in European and American Cities: Does the Context of Reception Matter?" (With Tineke Fokkema, Laurence Lessard-Phillips, and James D. Bachmeier.) 2012. Nordic Journal of Migration Research 2(2): 111-123.

"Demographic Analyses of Immigration." (With Frank D. Bean.) 2014. Pp. 67-89 in Migration Theory: Talking Across Disciplines, 3rd edition, edited by Caroline Brettell and James P. Hollifield. New York: Routledge.

"Luxury, Necessity and Anachronistic Workers: Does the United States Need Unskilled Immigrant Labor?" (With Frank D. Bean, James D. Bachmeier, Zoya Gubernskaya, and Christopher D. Smith.) 2012. American Behavioral Scientist 56(8): 1008-1028.

"The Educational Legacy of Unauthorized Migration: Comparisons Across U.S. Immigrant Groups in How Parents' Status Affects Their Offspring." (With Frank D. Bean, Mark A. Leach, James D. Bachmeier, and John R. Hipp.) 2011. International Migration Review 45 (2): 352-389.

"Aging Societies and the Changing Logic of Immigration." (With Frank D. Bean and James D. Bachmeier.) 2009. Generations: Journal of the American Society of Aging 32(4): 11-17.

"Post-9/11 International Graduate Enrollments in the United States: Unintended Consequences in National Security Strategies?" (With Frank D. Bean.) 2009. Pp. 66-89 in Immigration Policy and Security: U.S., European, and Commonwealth Perspectives, edited by Terri Givens, Gary P. Freeman and David L. Leal. New York and London: Routledge.

“Delayed Spatial Assimilation: Multi-Generational Incorporation of the Mexican-Origin Population in Los Angeles.” 2007. City & Community 6: 193-209.

"For Love or Money? Welfare Reform and Immigrant Naturalization." (With Jennifer Van Hook and Frank D. Bean.) 2006. Social Forces 85: 643-666.

"Structural Assimilation Revisited: Mexican-Origin Nativity and Cross-Ethnic Primary Ties." 2006. Social Forces 85 (1): 75-92

"The End of Affirmative Action in Washington State and Its Effect on the Transition from High School to College." (With Charles Hirschman.) 2006. Sociology of Education 79: 106-130.

Beyond the Immigrant Enclave: Network Change and Assimilation. (Under the name Susan Wierzbicki.) New York: LFB Scholarly Publishing. 2004.

Russell Sage Foundation. 2008. “Intergenerational Spatial Assimilation among the Descendents of Mexican Immigrants in Metropolitan Los Angeles.” PI.

Russell Sage Foundation. 2004-06. "Immigration and Intergenerational Mobility in Metropolitan Los Angeles." Co-investigator.

Russell Sage Foundation. 2008-2009. "Mexican Immigrant Group Incorporation." Co-PI.

Russell Sage Foundation. 2008-2009. “Mexican Immigrant Group Incorporation.” Co-principal investigator.

Russell Sage Foundation. 2010-2011. “Unauthorized Immigration and Immigrant Integration.” Co-investigator.

Center for Research on Immigration, Population, and Public Policy

Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=4670

Last updated
10/22/2017