Blog.

Essays, media coverage & public sociology.

Elena van Stee Elena van Stee

The Pact

How do seemingly nonracial organizational processes reproduce racial inequality? In a new study published in Socius, Alanna Gillis and I examine this question through the lens of “the Pact,” a COVID-19 behavioral policy implemented at a predominantly White U.S. liberal arts college during the 2020-2021 academic year. Drawing on three waves of yearly interviews with 30 undergraduates, we reveal how this ostensibly race-neutral policy inadvertently undermined social connection and belonging among the school’s small population of students of color.

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Elena van Stee Elena van Stee

Who is your safety net?

COVID-19 campus closures in March 2020 led many—but not all—college students to move back in with their parents. Why did some students return home while others did not?

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Elena van Stee Elena van Stee

Getting both sides of the story: Dyadic family interviews

What can sociologists learn from interviewing multiple members of the same family? This week on the Contexts blog, I’m in conversation with Gaby Flores, Ariel Chan, and Angelica Qin to discuss our respective studies involving interviews with parent/young adult dyads.

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Elena van Stee Elena van Stee

Nice is not enough: A conversation with C.J. Pascoe

Why is *nice* not enough? I recently interviewed C.J. Pascoe about her new book, Nice Is Not Enough: Inequality and the Limits of Kindness at American High. To learn more about American High’s culture of kindness—and why it’s insufficient to challenge systemic inequalities—check out our recorded conversation (along with a lightly-edited transcript) on the Contexts blog.

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Elena van Stee Elena van Stee

Michèle Lamont: Seeing Others

I recently sat down with Michèle Lamont, Mari Sanchez, and Shira Zilberstein to chat about Michèle’s new book and our respective studies on college students navigating COVID-19. You can find our recorded conversation, along with a lightly-edited transcript, on the Contexts blog.

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Elena van Stee Elena van Stee

No place like home?

In my new feature essay for Contexts, I tell the stories of two college students navigating the transition to remote instruction in March 2020. As their experiences illustrate, the social class divides exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic reflected deeper differences than immediate resource constraints.

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Elena van Stee Elena van Stee

Editor cap: On

I'm excited to join the Contexts editorial team as the magazine’s newest blog editor.

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