DAWN MARIE DOW 

Dawn Marie Dow, JD, PhD

Dr. Dawn M. Dow is an Equity Scholar at the Urban Institute. She is also an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Faculty Associate in the Maryland Population Research Center. She also served as the faculty director for the Critical Race Initiative from 2019 to 2021, which annually holds the Parren J. Mitchell Conference focused a topic through which scholars examines systemic inequality in contemporary society, and continues to be a faculty affiliate.

Using primarily qualitative methods, Dow's research and writing examine intersections of race, class, and gender within the context of the family, educational settings, the workplace, the law, political mobilization, and popular culture. 

Dr. Dow's award-winning book Mothering While Black: The Boundaries and Burdens of Middle-Class Parenthood, was published in March 2019 with University of California Press. It examines African American middle and upper-middle class mothers’ approaches to parenting their children and their views and decision-making about work, family and childcare. Dr. Dow’s work has also appeared in journals including Gender & Society, Journal of Marriage and Family, Sociology of Race & Ethnicity, Science Advances, and Mobilization.

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Dr. Dow is currently a deputy editor for the Journal of Marriage and Family an is on the editorial board of Contexts. 

Dr. Dow received a PhD in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley and also earned a JD from Columbia University, School of Law. 

@Dawn_M_Dow

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Department of Sociology

University of Maryland, College Park

College Park, MD 20742