Publications | sociologist

Ford, LesLeigh D., Shauna M. Cooper, Chitra Balakrishnan, Ofronama Biu, Marokey Sawo, and Dawn Dow. Black Family Thriving: A Pilot Study of Wealth Building among the Black Middle Class. Urban Institute, 2024.

2023

Dow, Dawn, Diane Schilder, Cary Lou, Eve Mefferd, Peter Willenborg, Justin B. Doromal, Jonah Norwitt, and Laura Wagner. Nontraditional-Hour Child Care in Austin/Travis County: Insights from Interviews, Focus Groups, and Analyses of Supply and Demand. Urban Institute, 2023.
Schilder, Diane, Dawn Dow, Laura Wagner, Soumita Bose, Julia B. Isaacs, Eve Mefferd, and Jonah Norwitt. Accessing and Strategically Using Federal Funds for ECE Systems and Workforce Compensation: October 2022 Convening Summary. Urban Institute, 2023.
Dow, Dawn, Diane Schilder, Cary Lou, Eve Mefferd, Peter Willenborg, Justin B. Doromal, Jonah Norwitt, and Laura Wagner. Nontraditional-hour child care in Austin/Travis County. 2023.
Schilder, Diane, Dawn Dow, Cary Lou, Justin B. Doromal, Peter Willenborg, Jonah Norwitt, and Laura Wagner. Nontraditional-Hour Child Care in Austin/Travis County: Key Findings and Recommendations. Urban Institute, 2023.
Schilder, Diane, Dawn Dow, Justin B. Doromal, Laura Wagner, and Kathryn Kigera. Lessons Learned from Developing a Plan to Evaluate Child Care Subsidy Policies: District of Columbia’s Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Policies and Initiatives Evaluation Plan. Urban Institute, 2023.
Schilder, Diane, Dawn Dow, Cary Lou, Eve Mefferd, Peter Willenborg, Justin B. Doromal, Jonah Norwitt, and Laura Wagner. Executive Summary: Nontraditional-Hour Child Care in Austin/Travis County: Insights from Interviews, Focus Groups, and Analyses of Supply and Demand. Urban Institute, 2023.
Doromal, Justin B., Eve Mefferd, Dawn Dow, Cary Lou, Diane Schilder, and Jonah Norwitt. What Policymakers Need to Know about Nontraditional-Hour Child Care in Austin/Travis County, Texas: Challenges and Recommendations. Urban Institute, 2023.
Lou, Cary, Eve Mefferd, Dawn Dow, Diane Schilder, Peter Willenborg, and Justin B. Doromal. What Child Care Providers Need to Know about Nontraditional-Hour Child Care in Austin/Travis County, Texas: Supply and Demand, Challenges, and Considerations. Urban Institute, 2023.
Norwitt, Jonah, Laura Wagner, Eve Mefferd, Dawn Dow, Diane Schilder, and Cary Lou. Austin/Travis County Parents’ Experiences with Nontraditional-Hour Child Care. Urban Institute, 2023.
Schilder, Diane, Dawn Dow, Laura Wagner, Soumita Bose, Julia B. Isaacs, Eve Mefferd, and Jonah Norwitt. "Strategic Use of Federal Funds for Early Childhood Education (ECE) Systems and Workforce Compensation." (2023).
Mefferd, Eve, and Dawn Dow. "The US child care system relies on women of color, but structural barriers systematically disadvantage them." Urban Institute 14 (2023).
Schilder, Diane, Dawn Dow, Laura Wagner, Soumita Bose, Julia B. Isaacs, Eve Mefferd, and Jonah Norwitt. "Strategic Use of Federal Funds for Early Care and Education: A Convening Summary." (2023).
Norwitt, Jonah, Laura Wagner, Eve Mefferd, Dawn Dow, Diane Schilder, and Cary Lou. Experiencias de Padres Del Condado de Austin/Travis Con El Cuidado Infantil en Horarios No Tradicionales. Urban Institute, 2023.

ONGOING RESEARCH

BLACK PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS NAVIGATING THE PANDEMIC AND STRUCTURAL RACISM

The twin crisis of the pandemic and amplified attention to racial injustice after the murder of George Floyd and other Black people have underscored the continuing challenges Black families navigate related to structural racism. Indeed, a recurring statement made by the government, nonprofits, and researchers was that the impact of structural racism was enhanced during the pandemic among Black families in daily interactions with childcare, education, employment, housing, and health systems. However, beyond anecdotal accounts, little systematic research exists examining what Black families’ experiences looked like during this period, how they navigated those experiences, and what those experiences reveal about ongoing challenges with structural racism within institutions. For this project, I am interviewing 100 Black American parents and caregivers from different regions across the United States about their and their family members’ experiences with education, childcare, health, employment, law enforcement, and income/wealth during and in the aftermath of the pandemic. These interviews will also explore how parents, caregivers, and their families’ experiences were shaped by the heightened attention to structural racism that coincided with the period of the pandemic.

_________________________________

Are you a Black American parent or caregiver? We want to hear your story. To learn more about the study and find out if you are eligible to participate, you can:

Download the BlackCovidStudy Flyer: [FORM LINK PLACEHOLDER]

Click on this FORM to learn more and determine your eligibility to participate:

Email Dr. Dawn M Dow, the Principal Investigator of the study at BlackCovidStudy[at]umd[dot]com for more information.

DIVERSITY IN THE AMERICAN WORKPLACE

This research incorporates scholarship from the fields of the sociology of emotions, critical race theory and the sociology of law to examine workplace diversity, cross racial employee interactions, and the subtle and hidden rules of advancement that define social interractions in the workplace, and their effects on career development and advancement.

MOTHERING WHILE BLACK ONLINE

This research examines depictions of mothers and parenting on African American “mommy blogs.” Although existing research has underscored that racial minorities have less access to the internet, other scholars have noted that African Americans are more likely to blog than their white counterparts. Through an analysis of parenting blogs produced by African American mothers, I examine their motivations for blogging, the content of their sites, and the communities they seek to create or engage with through their blogging.